Leading Australian energy infrastructure business, cGroup, today announced construction of
the first stage of its East Coast Grid expansion has been completed, boosting gas supply across
the east coast to provide energy security and support Australia’s energy transition.
APA CEO and Managing Director Adam Watson said the business’ decision two years ago to
invest in a 25 per cent expansion of the East Coast Grid is already delivering essential capacity
to customers and southern markets, particularly in the peak winter periods.
“Two years ago, we could see there was going to be a need for greater gas transmission
capacity for the northern producers delivering gas to the southern markets. We wanted to get
ahead of this demand to ensure we could support the needs of our customers and our
communities” Mr Watson said.
“The first stage of our East Coast Grid expansion is now complete, with the second stage under
construction and expected to be complete in readiness for the growing winter demand in 2024.
“In this financial year alone, APA will have invested more than $340 million1 across a range of
projects, including the East Coast Grid expansion, to facilitate increased gas supply to meet
peak demand in southern markets.
“These are critical investments that we are making now, recognising the vital role APA plays as
a leading Australian energy infrastructure business to deliver additional energy security ahead of
forecast supply shortfalls in a cost-effective way.”
Over the coming weeks, construction on the South West Pipeline expansion is expected to be
completed, followed shortly after by the completion of the Western Outer Ring Main (WORM)
gas transmission project, further boosting capacity across the region.
“When completed, these projects will further enhance system capacity, reliability and security of
supply to Victorian households and businesses, as well as supporting the gas-fired power
generation that is essential for backing in and backing up renewables,” Mr Watson said.
“It is so important that as a nation, we continue to invest in domestic gas as the most secure,
affordable and low emissions pathway to accelerate the energy transition and build out more
renewables.
“We’ve demonstrated the benefits of an efficient incremental approach to increasing supply with
our staged expansion, but these investments were only possible because of the existing
regulatory environment and an assumption that this will continue into the future.
“Governments need to ensure the right regulatory environment is in place to promote the
necessary investment required to achieve our nation’s ambitions and ultimately ensure the
transition is orderly.”
Project overview:
• East Coast Grid expansion: APA announced the 25 per cent expansion of gas
transportation capacity on the East Coast Grid in May 2021, at a total capital investment
of around $270 million for two stages. Stage one works included the construction of a
single site of compression on both the South West Queensland Pipeline and Moomba
Sydney Pipeline. Stage two works commenced in May 2022 and is expected to be
complete for winter 2024.
• Western Outer Ring Main (WORM): The WORM pipeline will create a vital new link in
the Victorian Transmission System that bypasses the low-pressure network in
Melbourne’s CBD to enable faster filling of critical gas storage at the Iona Underground
Storage Facility for use during peak demand.
• South West Pipeline expansion: APA worked collaboratively with the Australian
Energy Regulator and the Victorian Government to expedite augmentation of the South
West Pipeline in the Victorian Transmission System through the installation of a second
compressor unit at APA’s existing Winchelsea Compressor Station to respond to periods
of peak winter demand.
