EPA greenlights next stage of Geelong gas terminal

ViIVA Energy has cleared another major hurdle in its bid to build a floating gas import terminal in Geelong, with EPA Victoria granting development licences for the project.

The regulator says any risks to people and the environment could be reduced “so far as reasonably practicable”, allowing the project to progress to its design and construction phases.

While the licences do not permit the terminal to operate, they represent a significant step forward for the project, which Viva Energy says could be supplying gas to Victoria by 2029 or 2030 subject to further approvals and commercial agreements.

These approvals include licences from WorkSafe and Energy Safe Victoria.

The project would see liquefied natural gas imported by ship and transferred to a floating storage and regasification unit moored in Corio Bay alongside the Geelong refinery.

The gas would then be converted and piped through a treatment facility before entering Victoria’s gas network.

An aerial view showing the floating storage and regasification unit (inside the yellow rectangle) and the pipeline connecting it to the Geelong refinery (pink line). Image: EPA Victoria.

Viva Energy has argued the terminal is needed to help address forecast gas shortfalls in Victoria later this decade and says it could supply enough gas to meet daily and seasonal demand across Victoria and southern Australia.

EPA Victoria said the project met the required standards for marine water discharges, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and noise.

The decision comes less than two months after a major fire at the Geelong refinery, but EPA Victoria said it had considered major incident scenarios including fires, marine spills and loss-of-containment events when assessing the application.

“EPA is satisfied that the measures of preventing, controlling and managing risk of a major incident occurring and response to emergency incidents have been included in the relevant mitigation measures and will be managed by co-regulators,” the regulator stated.

The development licences expire at the end of 2031. The project received federal environmental approval in April and state environmental approval in May last year.