SINGAPORE will start work soon on three new gas pipelines - costing an estimated $300 million to $400 million - to transport re-gasified LNG (liquefied natural gas) from its upcoming $1.5 billion LNG terminal to power stations and industry.
'We are preparing the documents and expect to call tenders for the first two pipelines on Jurong Island in the next few months,' SP PowerGrid's deputy managing director for planning and strategy Jimmy Khoo told BT recently.
This is being done in tandem with a consultancy study commissioned by the Energy Market Authority (EMA). With LNG scheduled to start arriving here in April-May 2013, work on the pipelines has to start soon so materials can be ordered and the network tested.
'We are working closely with EMA to meet the target timelines for the terminal and the connections,' Mr Khoo said. 'We have established regular meetings so all operational and technical issues can be addressed expeditiously.'
The three new pipelines - and possibly a fourth one later - are integral to Singapore's plan to import LNG from multiple sources worldwide. They will transport the re-gasified gas through a pipeline network of 70km in total, running from the LNG terminal now under construction on Jurong Island.
The first two pipelines - 'a couple of kilometres long', said Mr Khoo - will connect with the existing gas pipeline networks 1 and 2, while a third one, 45km long, will connect the LNG terminal to Senoko in the north.
Network 1 supplies piped gas imported from Indonesia's West Natuna to users on Jurong Island and in the Jurong and Tuas areas. Network 2 supplies piped gas imported from South Sumatra and Malaysia.
The onshore gas pipelines here are owned by gas transporter PowerGas, which has engaged SP PowerGrid as its agent.
Mr Khoo said SP PowerGrid is looking at calling two tenders - one for the two pipelines to connect the LNG terminal to Networks 1 and 2, and the second to connect the terminal to Senoko. 'We expect to build these concurrently,' he said. The two shorter pipelines will be connected first, and the longer Senoko pipeline later, in 2015.
Mr Khoo said he agrees with a ballpark estimate made recently by EMA chief executive Lawrence Wong that the first three pipelines will cost around $300 million-$400 million in total.
The consultancy study called by EMA is looking, among other things, at a possible fourth and dedicated pipeline to transport re-gasified LNG at high pressure to major users on Jurong Island, Singapore LNG Corporation chief executive Neil McGregor told BT earlier.
'The LNG terminal offers an opportunity to inject gas at high pressure,' he said. 'With more users sucking the gas, the pressure in the pipeline drops and this may affect some end users. So there is merit in considering high-pressure gas delivery to customers on Jurong Island.
'If we can put in higher pressure than on the mainland, the risk of losing gas is minimised, as large volumes can be stored in the pipes under high pressure.
'But it is still an idea - a concept - and not something to be done in the immediate future.'