One step closer to development

By PHILIP HOPKINS

THEGolden Beach gas field, justoff theSouth Gippsland coast, is astepcloser to being developed.

The owner of the gas field, GB Energy, will start drillinganappraisalwellinMay. The Golden Beach-2 (GB-2) well will influence the design and operation of the future production and storage wells and associatedinfrastructure to be installed in 2024.

Drilling willtakeplaceabout 3.4 kilometres offshore from the township of GoldenBeach. During the drilling operation, the jack-up drilling rig will be visible from the shoreline. A500-metre radius safety zonewill be set-up around the rig for its operational duration. The rig will be on-site for about 20 days.

GB Energy is developing the roughly$500million Golden Beach Energy Project to provide large-scale energystoragetoAustralia'seast coast energy market. The gas resource in the field is believed to hold the equivalent of 18 per cent of Victoria's total gas consumption, but the main aim of the long-termproject is to storegas rather than supply the fuel it contains.

According to the company, this will be particularly important in periods of high energy demand,when renewable energy is unable to provide sufficient capacity for the market. It will also bolster longterm supplies as gas supplies from the huge Bass Strait fields and the Longford gas plant decline.

Afterthe initial period of production, the project's storage of energy for domestic consumption will be five to 10 times larger than Snowy 2.0.

The field, which was originally discovered by Burmah Oil and Woodsidein1967,has suffered several delays, resulting in the project being sold on several times. GB Energy is the eighth owner.

The chief executiveofGBEnergy,Tim Baldwin, told the Australian Financial Review that the unique nature of the project-more of an energy storage facilityrather than agas producer -had complicated financing and approvals, despite receiving ashort-term loan of up to $32 million in the 2021 May budget underthe Morrison government.

"This is the first time (in the world) that anyone has looked at storageinadvance of production," he told the AFR."That is one of the things that investors have troublegetting their head around."

The federal governmentloan will fundthe appraisal well to start in May.

The well, whose aim is to firm up the reservoir capacityfor storage, willbefollowed by afinal investment decision.

The Golden Beach energy storage development involves drilling offshore conventional wells using provenprocessestechnology. In parallel, apipeline and compressor stationwill alsobebuilttoconnect the field to existing infrastructure near Longford. This will allow the field to supply households and businesses in Victoria and New South Wales.

GB Energy says it is committed to working with landowners and occupiers. As planning progresses and detailedtimeframes are confirmed, GB Energy will consult and inform the landowners and occupiers that may be affected by the onshore pipeline proposal.

Victorian Ministerfor Planning has approved GB Energy'sEnvironmentEffectsStatement (EES) for the project. The company said the EES process was asignificant undertaking and underpinned the project according to environmental parameters and processes.

In addition, the project has beenclassifiedas critical energy infrastructure by the federal government, and is expected to support the market and the transition to large-scale renewable generation.

In parallel with the EES process, the CommonwealthDepartmentofEnvironment and Energy has approved the project under the Environment Protectionand Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

"Likewise, thisisasignificant milestone in underpinningthe environmental significanceof the project," the company says.

The jack-up rig being used in May is typically used to drill wellsinwaterdepths less than 100metres; the water in this location is about 20 metres.

To put the jack-up rig in place, the rig will be towed to the location by support vessels.The three legs will then be lowered to the seabed.

Once the legsare in place on the seabed, the hullwillbeelevated outofthe water,allowing drilling operations to start. At the end of drilling operations, the legs will be raised, allowing the rig to be towed away.

The wellwill be drilled vertically to adepth of about 700 metres. Once drilledand evaluated, the well will be safelyand securely plugged and abandoned, in compliance with Australian regulations, the company says.

The drilling rig is unlikely to be heard from shore, barring extreme calm seas and the correct wind conditions. There are no seismic surveying operations in this drilling operation. The rig will be visible from shore and at night, the rig and drilling support vessels will be lit up.