APA plans third expansion of eastern Australian gas pipeline system

APA Group, Australia’s largest natural gas infrastructure business, has announced it will proceed with a further expansion of the Victorian - New South Wales interconnect following an extension of its gas transportation agreement with Lumo Energy.

A “revised suite of services”
The new arrangement with Lumo Energy is for a term of five and a half years, providing a revised suite of services from Victoria through to Sydney using APA’s Victorian Transmission System and Moomba to Sydney pipeline. It renews a suite of transportation and storage services, which expire in 2015, and replaces Lumo Energy’s current as available service on the Moomba Sydney pipeline with a firm service. This is the third gas transportation agreement APA has entered into in the last two months to transport Victorian gas into New South Wales.

This expansion will involve an increase in compression at Culcairn, New South Wales, as well as additional looping on the Victorian Transmission System, at a total cost of approximately US$ 25 million. This is in addition to the expansions required for Origin Energy, announced on 26^th September 2013, and Energy Australia, announced on 23^rd October 2013.

Increasing gas flow capacity
The aggregate effect of the three expansions will be to increase firm peak winter gas flow capacity from the Victorian Transmission System into the Moomba Sydney Pipeline System by 145%. All three expansions will commence this year and be completed by winter 2015.

APA Managing Director Mick McCormack said, "This agreement is another example of the flexibility of APA’s pipeline grid in supporting our customer’s gas transportation and storage needs. We are well placed to respond to changing supply and demand patterns, as demonstrated by the three separate capacity expansion projects that we have committed to in recent weeks. Each of these projects will increase gas flow capacity across the two states, providing further gas supply security for New South Wales."

Adapted from press release by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/04112013/apa_plans_third_expansion_of-eastern_australian_gas_pipeline_system/