APA Group opens $460m Northern Goldfields Interconnect pipeline in Ambania, east of Geraldton

A new gas pipeline operating out of Ambania, 50km east of Geraldton, will act as the missing link between the Perth Basin and the Goldfields, supplying energy to WA’s critical minerals sector in a huge step towards decarbonisation. After being commissioned on June 23, Sydney-based mining company, APA Group, launched the 580km pipeline transporting natural gas across the State last Friday. The $460 million project was announced in April 2020, creating 521 jobs during peak construction in 2022, but will now be remotely operated by 75 employees across WA. APA CEO and managing director Adam Watson said the interconnected gas pipeline model seen in the Eastern States allowed for better management of supply and demand across their regions, and the opening of the Northern Goldfields Interconnect pipeline meant WA was now able to do the same. “We have delivered not just a new pipeline, but created greater flexibility and security to meet the State’s long-term energy needs,” he said. Mr Watson explained the project was an investment made ahead of demand, but anticipated that demand to materialise in the next two to four years. “We’re investing ahead of our customer requirements to make sure we can encourage and attract investment into the region,” he said. Mr Watson added that having reliable energy supply would help mining operators in securing funding for their projects to get them off the ground. The project creates greater capacity for new mineral processing projects. Energy Minister Bill Johnston explained the pipeline would supply energy to critical mineral processing plants, and was supporting a huge step forward on the pathway to decarbonisation by eliminating diesel as a source of energy in the mining sector. “We’re talking to other companies who want to build processing infrastructure to take raw materials and turn them in to chemical products, this would allow those projects to proceed,” he said. The Mid West site will compress the gas and transport it to the existing Goldfields Gas Pipeline, lessening the load on the existing pipeline and streamlining the process for consumers on the southern end. The minister explained the Government was expecting a 300 per cent increase in demand for energy in the South West Interconnected System, as industry booms in the region. WA currently sources one third of its energy from gas, with the remaining two thirds coming from coal and renewable sources, making it the State with the highest gas usage in the country. “We’re determined to get to the 82 per cent renewable target that the Federal Government set. We’re all in to get that target, but it means you need 18 per cent coming from something else, and the logical support to that is natural gas,” Mr Johnston said. When asked about the possibility of a pipeline connecting WA to the Eastern States gas network, Mr Johnston explained the cost of construction would make the product prohibitively expensive for consumers.