July 3, 2025
Do you go fishing and boating from the Geelong, Kirks Point, Altona, Portarlington or Werribee areas? Then make sure you’re aware of Vopak’s proposed project off Avalon.
Vopak’s proposed Victoria Energy Terminal project will see a floating import terminal in Port Phillip 19 kilometres offshore from Avalon. The terminal would process liquified natural gas and connect it using an underwater pipeline to feed into exisiting supply onshore.
According to Vopak, using a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) avoids the need to build long-term gas infrastructure on land. This would be the first FSRU in Australia.
They’ve selected the preferred location in Port Phillip as they’ve identified an existing anchorage site and no dredging will be required.
Project Infrastructure
The project will include the following infrastructure: a floating, moored vessel (the FSRU), a pipeline, a gas receiving station and a transmission line.
The FSRU is the size of a large cruise liner and it would be moored for a minimum of 10 years to ‘support the state’s transition to renewables’. Tankers carrying LNG would moor next to the FSRU, transfer LNG from the tanker to the FSRU where it’s turned back to gas and sent into an underwater pipeline. According to Vopak, 20 to 50 LNG deliveries would arrive at the FSRU each year and take around 24 hours to unload.
The underwater and underground pipeline will transport gas from the FSRU to the Victorian Transmission System (VTS), onshore near Kirk Point. From there, it will connect to the existing gas network at a new Gas Receiving Station near the Princes Freeway.
The project 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. A new substation will be required to convert energy from existing power lines in Lara to 220kV.
Project Timeline
The current project timeline shows that 2024/25 will see environmental referrals, assessments and approvals; pipeline licensing and engineering design.
In 2026/27, the project will see approval/construction and mobilisation/mooring of the FSRU, testing and commissioning.
The project target is for the facility to be operational in 2028.
