About Victoria Energy Terminal
Victoria Energy Terminal is a low-impact solution to ensure Victorians have energy while gas is still needed.
A floating import terminal in Port Phillip Bay 19 kilometres offshore from Avalon would process liquified natural gas (LNG) and connect it using an underwater pipeline to feed into the existing supply onshore.
A floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) avoids the need to build long-term gas infrastructure on land and can hold enough gas to meet Victorian demand for a week.
It would be moored for 10 to 20 years – however long it is needed. Importing LNG allows for a reliable supply from the global market, that can scale up and down to meet Victorians’ gas needs.
About the energy terminal
The Victoria Energy Terminal will use a floating vessel - a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) - moored at an existing anchorage point in Port Phillip Bay, approximately 19km directly offshore from Avalon. The location of the site minimises the visual impact on local residents and communities.
The FSRU will receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from import tankers, re-gasify it onboard, and transfer the gas via a subsea pipeline in Port Phillip Bay. The pipeline will transition onto farmland managed by Melbourne Water before connecting directly into the Victorian Transmission System.
It is estimated that there will be 20-50 deliveries a year, depending on how domestic supply from existing fields declines over the next decade, together with the speed of transition to new energy sources. Supply ships usually berth for 24 hours to unload the LNG.
An LNG tanker can be up to 300 metres long – similar in size to the FSRU, which is equivalent in size to a large cruise liner and stores up to 170,000 m3 of LNG (approximately a week of gas demand in winter for Victoria).
The terminal infrastructure will be designed with the future in mind, with the potential to import hydrogen.
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Cruise Ship
335m
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LNG Carrier
300m
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Spirit of Tasmania
194m
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Passenger Ferry
60m
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Sail Boat
10m
About the site
Vopak spent considerable effort reviewing sites in Victoria before settling on Port Phillip Bay. This is the preferred location as it appropriately balances environment, marine and social amenity considerations, and will bring minimal disruption to normal bay activities, including shipping movements.
The location means there is no need for underwater dredging, so the sensitive marine environment is protected.
The mooring is approximately 19km east of the proposed shore crossing at Avalon, 10km from the nearest point to the Port Phillip Bay shoreline at Werribee, and 40km from Geelong waterfront and Corio Bay.
An underwater and underground pipeline will transport gas from the FSRU to the Victorian Transmission System (VTS). It will span 19km under Port Phillip Bay from the FSRU travelling west to arrive onshore.
Project infrastructure
The project will include the following infrastructure:
A floating, moored vessel
The size of a large cruise liner, the FSRU looks like other ships passing through and moored in Port Phillip Bay.
Mooring dolphins and a marine platform will secure the FSRU.
Tankers carrying LNG would arrive through the bay’s shipping corridor and moor next to the FSRU. LNG would transfer onto the FSRU where it is turned back into gas and sent into an underwater pipeline to travel to shore to connect into the existing gas network.
Twenty to 50 LNG deliveries would arrive at the FSRU each year – a small addition to the existing ships that pass through Port Phillip Bay annually.
Tankers would take about 24 hours to unload.
Pipeline
An underwater and underground pipeline will transport gas from the FSRU to the Victorian Transmission System (VTS).
It will span 19km under Port Phillip Bay from the FSRU travelling west to arrive onshore near Kirk Point at farmland. Trenchless construction for the 1.5km shoreline crossing will protect sensitive bird and wildlife habitats.
The pipeline will then travel north to connect to the existing gas network at a Gas Receiving Station near Princes Freeway.
Gas receiving station
A new Gas Receiving Station would be built near Princes Freeway. The station will inject nitrogen into the gas and meter gas flowing into the existing South West Pipeline where it will join the east coast gas market.
The station will be fenced and will include an air separation unit to produce nitrogen on site, rather than trucking or piping nitrogen to the gas receiving station. The station will also include a receiver station to enable inspection of the pipeline to maintain its integrity.
Transmission line
Victoria Energy Terminal requires energy to convert LNG arriving from ships into gas. Ausnet is working with Victoria Energy Terminal to plan an underground and underwater transmission connection from existing power lines in Lara to the floating unit and the Gas Receiving Station.
Community feedback through 2022 – 2023 told us it is important to minimise transmission infrastructure wherever possible.
Based on discussions with landholders and early studies, we are now planning to underground the entire transmission connection within road reserve along either Windermere Road or Peak School Road.
A new substation will be required to convert energy from existing power lines in Lara to 220kV.
