While many businesses on Australia’s east coast are taking decisive action to be more energy efficient, this focus almost exclusively has been on electricity usage while gas productivity has remained on the back burner.

However, as Queensland LNG projects come online to supply export contracts from the end of 2014 there will be a step change in the domestic gas market on eastern Australia. The domestic market gas price will also be linked to the international gas price for the first time and the higher prices are already being written into long-term domestic gas supply contracts.  

AGL Energy Limited (AGL) Head of Energy Services, Marc Barrington said there is increasing pressure on businesses across the eastern seaboard – particularly in NSW which produces only five percent of its own gas – to  identify commercially sound and cost effective options on to increase gas productivity. 

“To support businesses, AGL has developed an industry-leading assessment modelling tool to pinpoint the best gas-based energy productivity options for a specific business,” Mr Barrington said. “The assessment tool is designed to scope energy productivity opportunities relating to gas thermal energy systems in the 150kW to 10MW range”.

“Over the past six months, AGL has created a robust model that can be used to generate a Gas Productivity Investment Curve (GPIC) and a high level report of the most economically attractive gas productivity measures for a specific site, related to steam boilers, hot water heaters and thermal distribution systems.

“This modelling tool combines AGL’s proprietary database of the latest technology and pricing information and our 25 years' of industry experience, to analyse a business and identify gas productivity options in about an hour.” 

AGL’s database harnesses current market data – from new technology performance, gas users, gas suppliers, equipment suppliers and gas markets – into one application that makes it easy to have a focussed onsite discussion about where to invest for gas efficiency.

The AGL GIPC tool generates three distinct, but related, curves. The Gas Productivity Investment Curve shows gas savings in order of investment cost; the Gas Productivity Value Curve details savings in order of  Net Present Value (NPV); and the Gas Productivity Carbon Abatement Curve shows the cost of each available greenhouse gas abatement.

AGL Energy Services worked in collaboration with the University of Melbourne’s School of Engineering on the development of the gas productivity curves. 

“The GIPC tool has been developed using only those options that use commercially proven and available technology and equipment,” explained Mr Barrington

“The options presented are not based on speculative assessments. They can be practical guides to what can be achieved and implemented in today’s market.”

An accurate assessment of options using the GIPC modelling tool relies on the experienced operators from both AGL and our customers. Sitting down onsite, they can adjust the ‘default’ data setting for each energy-saving option to best match the operator’s own plant and the company’s financial hurdle rate.

Mr Barrington said the assessment captures both whole-system data and information on specific parts of a boiler or heating system. 

For detailed information on the GIPC modelling tool, download full report at www.agl.com.au/GPIC

About AGL
AGL is one of Australia's leading integrated energy companies and largest ASX listed owner, operator and developer of renewable energy generation in the country. Drawing on over 175 years of experience, AGL operates retail and merchant energy businesses, power generation assets and an upstream gas portfolio. AGL has one of Australia's largest retail energy and dual fuel customer bases. AGL has a diverse power generation portfolio including base, peaking and intermediate generation plants, spread across traditional thermal generation as well as renewable sources including hydro, wind, landfill gas and biomass. AGL is taking action toward creating a sustainable energy future for our investors, communities and customers.