The Australian-led international energy consortium Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) has chosen Port Kembla as its preferred location for the state’s first Liquified Natural Gas import terminal.
Construction of the terminal is likely to require a capital investment of between $200 and $300 million, generate around 150 jobs during the construction phase and 40-50 ongoing roles.
Visiting Port Kembla today NSW Trade and Industry Minister Niall Blair said AIE’s proposal could potentially provide NSW with security of gas supply at competitive prices
“From 2020, AIE plans to ship up to 1.8 million tonnes of LNG into Port Kembla. That’s enough gas to supply around 85,000 average homes for an entire year.”
AIE is a consortium comprised of Japanese global powerhouse LNG buyer JERA , Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy and Japanese industrial plant builder Marubeni Corporation.
“NSW is facing significant challenges in ensuring available and affordable gas supplies and we are working to make this project a reality as quickly as possible,” said AIE chief executive James Baulderstone.
Queensland LNG export terminal at Gladstone linked Australia’s domestic gas supply to internaitonal markets for the first time in 2014. Wholesale prices shot up from $3-$4 /gigajoule to $8-$12.
AIE has done the numbers and figured out it can find enough cheaper gas on the oversupplied international market.
With Glen Humphries
