Our History
The Goldfields region of Western Australia is one of Australia's richest resource areas, however it lacks the natural energy reserves needed to develop these resources. Western Australia's North West has an abundance of natural energy reserves - but it's a long way from the Goldfields.
Goldfields Gas Transmission (GGT) brings these two regions together, providing the north-east Pilbara and the heart of the Goldfields with clean, economical and safe energy from the North West via a 1380 kilometre natural gas pipeline.
GGT was formed in 1994 after extensive research into the feasibility of delivering energy from the North West to the Goldfields. Gas first flowed through the pipeline in June 1996, reaching Kalgoorlie in September 1996.
The 1380 kilometre long pipeline traverses more than two-thirds of the State. The second longest pipeline in Western Australia, it services a number of mines between Yarraloola in the Pilbara and Kambalda along with the township of Kalgoorlie. The pipeline also transports gas to the 340km Kalgoorlie to Esperance pipeline (owned by another party) for the Esperance region.
Today the pipeline has the capacity to deliver around 150 terajoules a day to our customers, bringing many benefits including:
- Lower Cost power for the mining industry
- Increased Options for minerals processing in the Pilbara and Goldfields due to the greater flexibility of gas as a primary energy source and potential feedstock
- Environmental Benefits through reduced greenhouse gas emissions with use of natural gas for power generation
- Fewer Road Trains delivering liquid fuels on WA country roads
- Reduced Imports through the use of an Australian resource
- Increased Export through providing an energy solution to the resources sector
The pipeline is owned by the APA Group (~88 per cent) and Alinta Energy Group (~12 per cent) and is operated and maintained by APA. The APA Group is one of Australia's biggest investors in natural gas pipeline systems, and is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. It has interests in more than 10,000 kilometres of pipeline infrastructure and transports over 50 per cent of Australia's natural gas through a network of new and well-established pipelines.
In Western Australia, APA also owns the 416km Parmelia Pipeline, which services industrial customers in the Perth metropolitan area and the South West. APA also owns the 442km Telfer Gas Pipeline which extends from the end of the Pilbara Energy Pipeline to the Telfer Mine. Additionally, APA has an interest in the 365 kilometre-long Midwest Pipeline, which extends from near Geraldton to the Murchison mineral production region. APA also owns the Mondarra Gas Storage Facility, which is currently the only commercial underground gas storage facility in Western Australia.
The Alinta Energy Group is an integrated energy company, operating power generation businesses as well as providing gas and electricity to commercial, industrial and retail customers across Australia. The power generation portfolio has interests in 12 operating power stations representing approximately 3,000MW of installed generation capacity. In Western Australia, Alinta Energy also operates the largest integrated private gas and electricity retailer with over 570,000 customers. Alinta Energy acquired an interest in the Goldfields pipeline in August 2007.