Page 9 - AsiaElec Week 18 2021
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AsiaElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AsiaElec
AGL formally scraps Crib Point
LNG import project
AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA’S AGL Energy said this week that Port Kembla plan in New South Wales having
it was stopping development of its proposed Crib advanced to the site preparation stage to date.
Point LNG import project. The move is not a sur- The Australian Competition and Consumer
prising one, as it comes around a month after the Commission (ACCC) said earlier this year that if
State of Victoria rejected the plan on concerns Port Kembla LNG is built before 2024, this could
over its environmental impact on local wetlands. help plug the supply gap in the southern states
The company said it had already spent and the East Coast market until 2028.
AUD130mn ($100mn) on the project, and AGL is also a power generator, and now needs
would record a pre-tax loss of up to AUD108mn to consider how to meet its gas needs over the
($83mn) in its results for the 2021 fiscal year coming years. This week, the Australian Finan-
owing to the expenditures on the scheme to date. cial Review cited AGL’s interim CEO, Graeme
The Crib Point plan was one of a handful of Hunt, as saying that importing LNG through a
LNG import projects proposed for Australia in rival project was still an option for the company.
anticipation of a shortfall in natural gas supplies “AGL has a highly flexible gas portfolio and
emerging in the coming years. The shortfall is a supply strategy which will enable customer
predicted to materialise despite the fact that the demand to be met from existing and new domes-
country is one of the world’s leading exporters tic supply sources and proposed third-party
of LNG – with liquefaction projects located in a regasification projects, leveraging LNG supply
different, remote part of the country. options developed for the Crib Point gas import
The remaining LNG import proposals are all terminal project,” the company said in a May 3
at an early stage of development, with only the statement.
Week 18 05•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
