In a move to ease chronic gas shortages, the Northern Territory’s only energy provider has requested the ability to reverse the flow of gas through a major pipeline connecting the territory to Queensland.<\/p>\n
Works are now complete on the Northern Gas Pipeline (NGP) to make it capable of flowing in both directions, allowing the NT government-owned Power and Water Corporation (PWC) to purchase gas from the east coast gas market.<\/p>\n
In 2009, PWC entered a long-term deal with Italian company Eni to purchase gas from its Blacktip field in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.<\/p>\n
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The Blacktip gas field is located in northern Australian waters. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
The $5.5 billion deal was expected to secure supply for the NT’s mostly gas-fired electricity grid and produce a surplus of gas that PWC could sell using the NGP.<\/p>\n
But output from the Blacktip gas field has been significantly reduced<\/a> since early 2021.<\/p>\n The ongoing shortfall has led to the company purchasing emergency gas from costly alternative sources in an effort to meet the territory’s power generation needs.<\/p>\n The provider has been scrambling to source emergency gas in an effort to keep up with power demands in the NT. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)<\/p>\n A spokesperson for PWC said the company made the request to allow reversed gas flow through the NGP “as part of a broader approach to securing adequate gas supplies in the territory”, following four years of reduced gas production at Blacktip.<\/p>\n “Reversal of the NGP provides a backup solution if gas supply is not available from alternative arrangements,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n “If gas is required from [the] east coast, the cost will be dependent on the gas market price at that time.”<\/p>\n The major infrastructure upgrade was delivered by Zinfra in eight months. (Supplied: Zinfra)<\/p>\n A spokesperson for pipeline owner and operator Jemena said its affiliated company Zinfra completed upgrades this month to make the NGP “bi-directional”, following the request from PWC.<\/p>\n According to Jemena, the Northern Gas Pipeline is now capable of delivering about 60 terajoules of gas a day into the NT from Queensland.<\/p>\n The operator’s spokesperson said: “To put this in context, this is around the same amount of gas used in the Northern Territory on a typical day for energy generation, as well as for household and industrial applications.”<\/p>\n Jemena owns and operates the Northern Gas Pipeline and said around 60 terajoules of gas can be sent to the NT from Queensland each day. (ABC News: Katrina Beavan)<\/p>\n According to its annual report, PWC contributed $18.9 million to the NGP reversal project during the 2023-24 financial year, but a spokesperson for the provider said “total project costs have not yet been finalised”.<\/p>\n Australian Energy Market Operator data shows that the NGP remained unused on 282 days over the last 12 months.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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