The Wilga Park power station in northwest New South Wales will be able to power the equivalent of 6000 more local households thanks to a new flowline connecting nearby Santos natural gas appraisal wells near Narrabri.
The new flowline from the Dewhurst South natural gas wells means Santos can beneficially use this gas for electricity generation, eliminating wasteful flaring and reducing emissions.
This gas supply will enable Santos to increase the generating capacity of the Wilga Park power station from 12MW to 16MW.
Narrabri natural gas already supplies Wilga Park to generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 17500 households in northwest New South Wales and that will now increase to about 23000 households.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Kevin Gallagher said Santos is focussed on securing approval of the Narrabri Gas Project to unlock the wealth of this resource for the people of NSW, delivering natural gas to the state’s industries and providing jobs, small business opportunities and community investment for the people of the Narrabri region.
“The Narrabri Gas Project is currently being assessed by the NSW Department of Planning ahead of a decision of the NSW Independent Planning Commission. One hundred per cent of Narrabri gas would go into the domestic market, potentially supplying up to half of NSW natural gas demand,” Mr Gallagher said.
“That would be fantastic for NSW customers and it would be the best way to put downward pressure on energy prices.
“The ACCC has said gas customers in southern markets pay $2 to $4 per gigajoule more than they would if gas was developed locally and didn’t have to come all the way from Queensland or South Australia.”
“Import terminals are not the answer. The only way to have an energy advantage over other countries is to put in place strict environmental standards so you can safely produce as much of your own energy resources as you can at as low a price as you can.
“Importing gas will lead to higher prices or shortages, particularly when LNG demand in Asia is high. It is a certain way of ensuring that at some time in the future foreign suppliers would have a gun to the head of Australian manufacturers.”
Santos has further plans to connect natural gas appraisal wells from another field, which could see Wilga Park power the equivalent of about 32000 households with reliable electricity generated from clean natural gas.
“It makes good environmental sense to use this gas beneficially to generate power for local communities and reduce waste and emissions,” Mr Gallagher said.
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