APA Group has announced it will construct a new gas transmission pipeline and a gas–fired power station to supply power to the Gruyere Gold Project (Gruyere Project) in Western Australia.
APA will design, build, own and operate the 198km pipeline (to be known as the Yamarna Gas Pipeline) and 45MW gas-fired power station, with a total cost of construction of around $180 million.
The Gruyere Project is a 50:50 joint venture between Gold Road Resources and the global miner Gold Fields (together, Gruyere JV). It is located in the Yamarna greenstone belt of Western Australia, 200km north-east of Laverton, and to the north of APA’s Eastern Goldfields Pipeline.
A 15 year transportation agreement has been entered into to support a 15 year Electricity Supply Agreement with the joint venture in order to deliver the necessary energy for the project.
Gas will be transported a total of almost 1,500km to the Gruyere mine site using four APA interconnected gas pipelines: Goldfields Gas Pipeline1, Murrin Murrin Lateral, Eastern Goldfields Pipeline and the Yamarna Gas Pipeline.
Commissioning of both the pipeline and power station is expected to be late 2018, to align with the Gruyere JV’s expectation of first gold scheduled for early 2019.
APA Group CEO and Managing Director, Mick McCormack, said, “I am very pleased to announce this organic growth project – it ticks all the APA boxes in terms of demonstrating our capability in energy solutions and construction; leveraging APA’s interconnected energy infrastructure; and long term contracts with highly creditworthy counterparties.
“This is another example of where we have been able to deliver a compelling energy solution for a customer using both our pipeline and power generation capabilities.”
