Queensland’s gas industry achieved a significant milestone
this week, as the Queensland Gas Pipeline (QGP) celebrated 30 years of safe and
reliable operation.
Owned and operated by leading infrastructure company, Jemena,
the pipeline, which was officially opened on 25 July 1990, reinforced Gladstone
as a thriving manufacturing region, which today underpins Queensland’s $20
billion manufacturing sector.
Speaking about the milestone, Jemena’s Managing Director,
Frank Tudor, said the pipeline continues to play a crucial role in the
Queensland and Australian economy.
“From the outset the QGP played an important role in providing
reliable and affordable energy to central Queensland,” said Mr Tudor.
“The pipeline brought to life Queensland’s regional manufacturing
sector, and has been delivering gas reliably to big and small businesses for 30
years. The pipeline has made possible many thousands of jobs, especially in
regional Queensland, and its flow-on economic impacts benefit not only the rest
of Queensland but all Australians.” Gas from the QGP supports manufacturing operations to produce
many of the everyday items used by Australian homes and businesses including: aluminium,
plasterboard and oil. It also supports the manufacture of key inputs required
by Queensland’s mining sector and supplies gas to distribution networks in
Gladstone, Rockhampton, and the Wide Bay area.
The QGP spans 627km connecting the Wallumbilla gas hub in
south west Queensland to large industrial gas users in Gladstone and
Rockhampton. The QGP was developed by the Queensland Government between 1989 and
1990, and was acquired by Jemena on 4 August 2008.
Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) was the QGP’s baseload
customer and has sourced its energy from the pipeline for its entire three
decades of operation.
QAL General Manager, Pine Pienaar said; “QAL is proud to have
a long-term partnership with Jemena and recognise the contribution they provide
to ensure QAL continues to operate in a safe, stable and sustainable way now
and into the future.
“Congratulations and thank you Jemena for 30 years of ongoing
dedicated service to industries within our region and beyond.”
In response to growing demand for energy in central QLD, Jemena
has invested more than $140 million since 2010 to expand the QGP, including adding
new compression facilities and pipeline looping so that today the QGP is
capable of transporting approximately 52 PJ/annum.
Mr Tudor said the QGP also continues to provide a reliable
and efficient path for new gas to be brought to the east coast gas market.
“Jemena has a history of working with smaller Australian
producers helping them bring new gas to major use centres through the most
efficient and economic route available – this is evident by the recent
connection of Denison Gas at Rolleston, establishing the QGP as a
bi-directional pipeline with the capability of delivering gas to Wallumbilla on
a firm basis. With the Queensland Government opening up new exploration acreage
we foresee a future where the QGP plays an integral role in bringing new
sources of gas to market, helping to ease forecast gas shortages across
Australia’s east coast.”
A timeline of the QGP’s development is attached.
Jemena Media Contact
Michael Pintabona
Media and External Affairs Manager, Jemena
0428 742 804
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About Jemena
Jemena is an $11.5 billion company that owns and manages some
of Australia's most significant gas and electricity assets. These include:
·
the Jemena Gas Network servicing 1.4 million customers around
NSW
·
the Eastern Gas Pipeline which delivers gas from Victoria's
Gippsland basin to the ACT, Sydney and regional NSW
·
the Queensland Gas Pipeline which supplies Gladstone and
Rockhampton
·
the Atlas Gas Pipeline which delivers gas from the Atlas Gas
Field to the east coast market via the Darling Downs Pipeline System
·
the Darling Downs Pipeline System which transports gas to the
Wallumbilla gas trading hub, the 630MW Darling Downs Power Station, and to the
feeder pipeline to the APLNG LNG liquefaction plant at Gladstone
·
Jemena's Victorian electricity network which delivers
electricity to over 360,000 homes and businesses in northern and western
Melbourne
·
the Northern Gas Pipeline from Tennant Creek in Northern
Territory to Mount Isa in Queensland.
Jemena also part-owns the ActewAGL electricity and gas
distribution networks in the ACT and United Energy, which supplies electricity
to more than 600,000 customers across south-eastern Melbourne and the
Mornington Peninsula.
More information on Jemena can be found at www.jemena.com.au
