New Gas Pipeline for Hunter Valley Region of New South Wales

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--The Hunter Valley region of New South Wales (NSW) is one step closer to a cheaper gas supply as preliminary engineering for the proposed Queensland Hunter Gas Pipeline commences.

Historically, gas customers in the Hunter Valley region have paid the highest prices in Eastern Australia, because the region is the end of the line for gas transmission pipelines. Gas from the Cooper Basin must travel via Adelaide and the Moomba pipeline; gas from the Bass Straight must travel via the Eastern Gas Pipeline. In order to supply domestic and power generation customers with a more cost-effective gas supply, Hunter Gas Pipeline Pty Limited (Sydney, Australia) has begun preliminary engineering to connect the Hunter Valley to the Wallumbilla Hub in South East Queensland.

When announcing the pipeline, Bob Otjen, the Hunter general manager, said: "This pipeline will help alleviate the gas shortage and bring down fuel costs in the Hunter and greater NSW. These shortages and resultant high transportation costs are a result of existing facilities being at full capacity."

The proposed pipeline will be about 527 miles (833 kilometres) long. Approximately 70%, or 380 miles (610 kilometres), of the pipeline will be in New South Wales, with the remaining 140 miles (220 kilometres) in Queensland. About 130,000 tonnes of steel will be required for the pipeline, much of which the company is hoping to source locally.

When the pipeline is complete in late 2017, it is expected to have a capacity of about 230 terajoules per day (TJ/d); however, the pipeline is being designed to facilitate the addition of compression as demand increases. At full compression, the maximum capacity of the pipeline will be about 410 TJ/d. Hunter Gas Pipeline Pty Limited is allowing for this future increase in capacity by using 20-inch and 24-inch diameter, energy-class 900 pipeline, which has an operating pressure of 2,200 psi.

When the pipeline was first considered by the New South Wales government more than 15 years ago, construction costs were estimated at about $309 million (AU$300 million). The current project has a budget of about $1.03 billion (AU$1 billion) and is expected to create about 600 jobs during construction.

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