In December 2012 Epic Energy was acquired by APA Group after a long takeover.
As a condition of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s approval for the acquisition, APA was required to divest the Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline System, which it did by way of trade sale of Epic Energy subsidiary, Epic Energy South Australia.
In May 2013 Epic Energy South Australia was acquired by Queensland Investment Corporation and a new board and leadership team was put in place.
In this SA region review, The Australian Pipeliner speaks with Engineering Services Manager Tom Forde about the changes the company has made in order to improve its offering to the South Australian market.
How has the operation of SA pipeline infrastructure changed in the past 12 months?
The new Epic Energy business has primarily been focused on transition and establishment; however, we continue to observe a dynamic Australian energy market strongly influenced by LNG export developments and the uncertainty of carbon policy impacts.
SA pipelines have generally seen a moderation of total flows over recent years in direct relation to the increasing number of wind farms constructed over the last decade.
But gas-fired generation maintains an essential role in the energy security of the state, providing a reliable source of base load and peaking power to complement the large proportion of wind-powered energy.
This role was exemplified in January 2014 when a week-long heatwave of over 40 degree temperatures across all of south east Australia coincided with extended periods of little wind.
Gas-fired power generation was able to meet near record electricity demands, with both major SA transmission pipelines delivering at full capacity.
Such high flow periods contrast with the generally conservative outlook for growth in the South Australian economy.
Whilst much has been publicised about the looming closure of Holden’s Elizabeth car plant, these sorts of predictions are already playing out for Epic Energy customers, such as the closure of a food processing facility near Penola in the state’s south east that was supplied with gas from our South East Pipeline System.
This has reinforced the importance for Epic Energy to be customer-focused and actively engaged in seeking to provide solutions to future growth opportunities that support SA businesses.
Please explain how the new Epic Energy structure better services the needs of the SA region.
The reshaping of Epic Energy required some structural changes to operational roles.
Maintenance and engineering roles have been adapted to meet the needs of the new business, such that the technical understanding of field personnel is expanded, and more site interaction is required of engineers.
This maintains ongoing operational integrity, and provides the added benefit of strengthening personal relationships across departments.
The departure of some long-serving staff has placed an increased reliance on competency-based training and robust documentation.
To that end, a specific training compound in the Dry Creek yard allows training and familiarisation of new staff; operational demonstration activities, including emergency simulations; and qualification against company procedures, such as safe isolation methods.
All maintenance procedures are also undergoing an overhaul to ensure consistency across all sites, which again requires interaction of field and office personnel to further gel the new Epic Energy team.
Whilst the corporate side of Epic Energy has seen considerable change over the last 12 months due to new ownership, field staff have generally been at arm’s length to these machinations.
This means that operators and technicians working on the pipelines have been able to continue with maintenance activities and maintain asset familiarity.
How does the new Epic Energy business model better position the company to take advantage of future opportunities in the SA region?
The new Epic Energy is an SA asset-based business.
Therefore, we have a renewed focus on South Australia’s place in the national energy market, how that affects our customers, and what we can do to provide further opportunities for growth or offer safeguards against potential downsides for SA businesses.
One state also means one licencing body, so the ability to streamline management documentation and procedural information provides opportunities for efficiency.
Epic Energy continues to improve its pipeline management systems for better transparency and ease of understanding for internal and external stakeholders.
Better systems also allow greater flexibility to move on potential new opportunities through reduced complexity or uniformity and alignment of interacting systems.
Put simply, we aim to be quicker to act and react by working smarter.
From an operational point of view, one of the major changes for the new Epic Energy business has been the establishment of a new pipeline control room.
Whilst the Dry Creek office in the industrial inner north of Adelaide has always had a back-up control room, it is in a quiet location away from most of the normal daily activities.
We knew that our new control room would be the nerve centre of the business, so we moved walls in the middle of the main office area and created a new glass bubble to ensure that the hub of all operations is now central to the everyday of all staff.
This visibility has an important cultural effect, because its accessibility means that engineers and accountants alike are always reminded of the reason they are at work – to deliver gas to our customers.
Has Epic Energy identified any further opportunities for improvement?
As an experienced pipeline operator, Epic Energy understands that there are always opportunities for improvement, and we continue to seek better ways to do things.
These include maintaining modern technologies for information management, investing in ongoing training and development of our people and constantly reviewing the capabilities of the pipeline system to provide valued services to existing and new customers.
We have spent much of the last year transitioning and establishing our new business, but as we now consolidate our people and systems, we are looking forward to playing our part in the next regional SA successes, such as the revitalisation of Port Pirie and the greater Iron Triangle area, which has recently been announced by the SA Government.