Dutch independent storage tank firm Vopak has revealed a plan to build an LNG import facility in Australia’s Victoria state, joining several other developments looking to fill an expected gas supply shortfall in the region.
Vopak, which already co-owns four LNG import terminals around the globe, is looking to install an FSRU in Port Phillip Bay, off the shoreline of Avalon and near Melbourne.
The terminal could supply the “gas needs of households, business and industry throughout Victoria as the nation transitions to renewable energy,” Vopak said in a statement.
In addition, the firm said that “several gas market participants” have already shown support for the development.
Vopak is looking to submit the development proposal to the Victorian government this year while the facility could receive its first LNG cargoes after 2024.
Vopak Australia managing director Fulco van Geuns said in the statement the company would like to have the facility operational before Victoria faces “substantive gas shortages.”
The new development will have to compete with at least five other developments aiming to import LNG into southeast Australia.
Two of these are in Victoria, namely AGL’s Crib Point FSRU project but also Viva Energy’s planned LNG import terminal at its Geelong refinery.
The Geelong project is located in the region where Vopak plans the new development.