In this report, Australian Pipelines and Gas Association Chief Executive Officer Steve Davies focuses on the role of pipelines in the water industry among others.
The year is well and truly underway! I hope your 2023 is starting well.
At the APGA Secretariat, there is a record number of events, projects, and engagement activities underway. Our new and expanded team is putting a lot of effort into delivering all these and more during this exciting time for the association.
It is fantastic to see this issue’s focus on the role of pipelines in the water industry. At APGA, we often focus on energy issues, you only need to look at the news any given week over the last 10 years to see why, but we are always cognisant of the significance of the water industry to members.
The pipeline industry is a major service provider for water and this role is very likely to expand significantly in the years ahead. The energy transition sees an expanded and new role for water as an energy storage medium, in both pumped hydro and some thermal mass applications and as an input to future fuels, especially green hydrogen production. Importantly for the pipeline industry, an increasing role for water in energy will mean an increasing need to move water long distances.
APGA’s Social Responsibility Pillar and Capability Pillar both go directly to making sure we are able to deliver the best pipeline projects possible. Whether it’s securing social licence for pipeline projects through landholder engagement, delivering optimal environmental outcomes through the Code of Environmental Practice or ensuring our people have the skills, expertise and ability to share knowledge and experience, there is a lot of APGA’s services that are relevant to water infrastructure. And we are always interested in a discussion on how we can do more to support members, so please share your thoughts with the team and I if you t hink there’s something we can do to bring our industries even closer.
An increasingly common issue for all industries in 2023 is resourcing. Whether gas, electricity, water, mining, manufacturing, the energy transition requires so many projects to be delivered over the next decade that it is inevitable all sectors are constrained for resources and skills. It is an issue increasingly on our minds at APGA and we are always including in our advocacy and messaging the importance of pursuing all decarbonisation options and technologies to spread the resource load over as many sectors as possible.
For pipelines, this means promoting options that move molecules. Whether it is the increasingly visible role of renewable gas, the contribution pumped hydro can make in electricity storage, the growing need for water in the regions or the potential for zero-carbon fuels to power ships and planes, there is a major contribution to be made by pipeline infrastructure.
By ensuring considerations such as the skills of this sector, the social acceptability of buried infrastructure compared to above-ground infrastructure and the differing raw material needs, we are doing our best to make sure government has the pipeline industry and the contribution we can make front and centre in its mind.
There is a lot to look forward to!
This article featured in the March edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
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