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In a statement released on Wednesday, Vopak welcomed the recent Victorian Parliamentary approval of the energy and land legislation amendment (energy safety) bill.
Vopak said this provides security for the crown maritime lease for its proposed Port Phillip Bay FSRU.
“The legislative change enables Vopak to undertake its development in the gas import terminal
project with confidence,” the firm said.
Back in 2021, Vopak revealed its plans to install an FSRU in Port Phillip Bay, near Melbourne.
The FSRU will be moored at a simple fixed marine berth within an existing anchorage point in Port Phillip, 19km east of the Avalon shoreline.
According to Vopak, Victoria’s gas transmission system is accessible within about 28km of the FSRU via a subsea pipeline and land-based pipeline route predominantly over farmland managed by Melbourne Water.
In addition, Vopak noted that its project does not require dredging within the Bay.
Vopak said that a new transmission line would connect to the Moorabool Terminal Station, supplying renewable power for the project’s operation and minimizing CO2 emissions.
The company said the terminal offers a “low-impact yet essential solution for securing gas supply necessary to bring greater energy certainty to Victoria and Australia’s eastern seaboard during the transition to net-zero.”
The firm cited a recent report by Rystad Energy saying that “imported gas will not be more expensive than relying on possible future gas pipelined from Northern Australia.”
FEED, FSRU talks
In the first quarter of this year, Vopak signed a front-end engineering design (FEED) agreement with Hatch Engineering for the project.
Vopak said that this ensures that upon successful approval of its proposal, it can immediately start construction to ensure a planned delivery date of 2029.
Moreover, the company said discussions with “relevant global parties to deliver an FSRU by 2029 for Port Phillip are advanced.”
“Vopak Victorian Energy Terminal is the only project in Victoria that has an agreement with an FSRU provider and that has commenced its FEED, making it the most viable option to be operational by 2029,” Vopak said in the statement.
LNG Prime contacted Vopak to clarify further the FSRU charter part from the statement.
A spokeswoman said that the sentence “discussions with relevant global parties to deliver an FSRU by 2029 for Port Phillip are advanced” refers to the multiple parties involved in getting the FSRU ready, such as shipyards for conversion or the engineering company designing the conversion of an LNG carrier.
“We are in advanced negotiations with an FSRU provider and working in good faith,” the spokeswoman said.