Venice Energy agrees on Aussie LNG import terminal deal with Origin

South Australian energy infrastructure developer Venice Energy has agreed on a structural framework with Origin Energy to import LNG from its Outer Harbor LNG import terminal to be built at Port Adelaide, the company announced on October 27.

The agreement comes 18 months after the project was approved by the South Australian government and will see Origin become the sole user of the terminal for a minimum of 10 years, with further extension options available.

Venice Energy managing director Kym Winter-Dewhirst said that Origin and Venice's subsidiary Venice Regas will now enter into an exclusivity arrangement that will allow for the completion of a fully-formed terminal use agreement over the coming weeks.

"This is a major milestone for this project and ensures that the stage one enabling works will begin shortly," Winter-Dewhirst said. "The project's approvals allow up to 110 petajoules per annum of LNG to pass through the terminal and into local and interstate gas networks, thereby reducing forecast gas shortages in the southeast of Australia from mid-2026 and beyond."

Venice Energy believes that opening up eastern Australia to the global LNG market will ensure that gas will always be available when needed, to act as back-up supply during periods when not enough wind or solar is available, which in South Australia is approximately 30% of the year.

Construction of the terminal and associated infrastructure is expected to take approximately 24 months, with the first gas flowing into the network by May 2026 following a period of commissioning.

The terminal will include the development of two berths at Port Adelaide, along with a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), cryogenic piping and associated infrastructure. In July 2021, Venice signed an initial agreement with GasLog to negotiate a charter party for the supply of FSRU.