Australian gas company Senex Energy will supply state-owned utility CS Energy's planned 400MW Brigalow peaking power plant in Queensland state from 2027, under the state government's plan to increase gas-fired generation in the state.
Senex will pipe up to 58.4PJ (1.56bn m³) over 10 years from its Atlas development in the onshore Surat basin to the Brigalow plant near the town of Chinchilla, 230km west of state capital Brisbane.
Senex's A$1bn ($650mn) Atlas and Roma North expansion programme to deliver 60 PJ/yr capacity will be complete by the end of 2025, a company spokeswoman said on 21 October. The CS Energy deal takes Senex's total gas sales from the expansion to more than 200PJ.
Gas will be delivered via a new 23km connection linking Brigalow power station, next to the existing 750MW Kogan Creek coal-fired generator, with the 167 TJ/d Roma-Brisbane pipeline.
The state's conservative LNP government promised A$479mn in its 2025-26 state budget towards building Brigalow. Queensland is forecasting 4.1GW of gas-fired generation capacity will be installed by 2030, rising to 6.1-8.3GW by 2035 to support renewables and replace retiring coal-fired power by the mid-2040s.
The state's Energy Roadmap unveiled earlier this month sees coal-fired power remaining in the grid longer than previously forecast, with giant pumped hydroelectric projects promised by the previous Labor government to be scaled down.

