Regional Development Australia (RDA) – Illawarra welcomed the announcement today by the Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Minister for Planning Rob Stokes that planning approval has been given by the NSW Government for the Port Kembla Gas Terminal.
Debra Murphy, CEO of RDA Illawarra said ‘the green light for the Port Kembla Gas Terminal is just the beginning. While it’s fantastic that Port Kembla has attracted this investment in the first LNG import terminal for NSW, that’s just the beginning, there’s more.
Not only will has the green light see this $250m investment proceed, but there could be a further investment in a $750m gas fired power station in the Illawarra. The Federal Government recently shortlisted Australian Industrial Energy’s proposed Illawarra gas fired power station as as one of 12 possible projects for the Underwriting New Generation Investments Program.”
The Port Kembla Gas Terminal also provides a win for the east coast gas market, with it securing certainty of LNG supply to the high energy-intensive manufacturing sector in the Illawarra region and beyond by 2020. This terminal could alleviate the pressure of high energy costs on the Illawarra’s steel and manufacturing sector and support their long term sustainable business viability.
The Illawarra regional economy will benefit in many ways from this investment: through alleviating cost pressures on high energy-intensive industries; through direct capital investment and indirect flow-on to the economy; through improved port of Port Kembla berth utilisation; as well as the potential for additional development through a potential future gasfired power plant.”
The RDA Illawarra submission on the Port Kembla Gas Terminal is on our website here
Media Contact: Debra Murphy 0417 202 376