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AGL continues to monitor and manage the environmental impacts of our activities, in accordance with the AGL Environmental Principles. AGL aims to minimise our impact on the environment from both the inputs and outputs of our activities, while maintaining sustainable growth for our business.
This section outlines our environmental performance during 2008/09 for the following facilities that we operate:
The environmental impacts covered in this section include water use, biodiversity, emissions to air, compliance with regulation and licensing requirements and environmental incidents during 2008/09.
The greenhouse gas emissions associated with these facilities are reported in the Greenhouse Footprint section of this report.
Hydrocarbon Extractions (HC Extractions), located at Kurnell in Sydney, takes refinery waste fuel gas from the adjacent Caltex refinery and extracts products such as LPG and Naphtha.
Water consumption and air emissions are the key environmental impacts from the facility, along with energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, which are included in the Greenhouse Footprint section of this report.
The slight reduction in air emissions and water use represented below corresponds to a slight reduction in the actual days of production and consumption of natural gas at the facility during the reporting period. During 2008/09 the plant used 5,586 tonnes of natural gas and was in production for 322 days. This is compared to 5,966 tonnes of natural gas over 332 days of production in 2007/08.
In 2008/09 water used as part of our cooling system at HC Extractions totalled 27.45 ML compared to 28.79 ML in 2007/08. This reduction is approximately proportional to the reduction in the facility’s operating days during the year.
Process water that has been used for cooling at HC Extractions is temporarily held in an onsite storage pond. The pond is fed from the cooling towers, as well as an oil separator that receives waters from the hardstand surrounding the process area. Water from the storage pond is irrigated onto a grassed area of the site under licence from the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority (EPA). A review of the operation of the HC Extractions storage pond will be undertaken during 2009/10 in regards to licensing requirements.
The HC Extractions site is in close proximity to the Towra Point Aquatic Reserve. In 2008/09, AGL installed an emergency shut off valve to allow isolation of non-bunded surface water drainage areas to prevent contaminated site runoff into surrounding areas.
Information presented below about HC Extractions’ air emissions is taken from the Annual Return lodged with the EPA as required by licence conditions. In 2008/09, emissions of particulates, NOx, SO2 and total VOCs reduced slightly as a result of reduced operations and production at the facility.
HC Extractions is licensed under the New South Wales Protection of the Environment Operations Act 19971.
The facility recently developed a Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) program as part of its licence conditions, which will be implemented during 2009/10. This program will allow AGL to more accurately identify and quantify emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the facility’s network of pipes, valves and flanges. The LDAR program will enable more accurate VOC emissions values and a proactive repair program will be implemented. During the reporting period the facility licence was amended to include the LDAR program.
In May 2009, HC Extractions presented a case to the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change Technical Review Panel for amendment of licence conditions based on a proposal for the use of site specific emission factors for benzene and sulphur dioxide (SO2). HC Extractions has not yet received a response to the request.
During the latter part of the reporting period it was identified that the level of suspended solids in wastewater were above the load-based licence limit. HC Extractions is currently investigating potential causes for these elevated readings, including reviewing holding pond maintenance processes and investigating whether earthworks on neighbouring properties may have influenced suspended solids levels. Discussion with the New South Wales EPA on this matter is expected early in 2009/10.
Under the Energy and Utilities Administration Act 1987, HC Extractions is required to submit its annual Energy Savings Action Plan to the New South Wales Department of Water and Energy covering the 2008 calendar year. As of 30 June 2009, this plan was in development. It will detail the energy usage in 2008 and document an energy management action plan. One of the key actions in this plan will be the trialling of smart energy metering across the plant. Initial steps in modifying the Distributive Control System interface will be completed during the annual shutdown in 2009/10. Analysis software will be installed on completion of the shutdown.
AGL’s gas fired peak load power plant in Somerton, Victoria has four 37.5 MW gas fired generating units. It plays an important role in ensuring that additional capacity is available to Victoria during periods of high electricity demand.
Water consumption and air emissions are the key environmental impacts from the facility, along with energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, which are included in the Greenhouse Footprint section of this report.
The slight reduction in air emissions and water use represented below corresponds to a slight reduction in the amount of electricity generated by the plant during the reporting period – this reduced from 118.08 GWh in 2007/08 to 104.55 GWh in 2008/09.
During 2008/09 the power station used a total of 23.04 ML for NOx emission control, compared with 25.48 ML in 2007/08.
In 2007, Somerton Power Station submitted a Water Management Action Plan (WaterMAP) review to Yarra Valley Water. The assessment process requires companies to implement water saving measures with payback periods of less than three years. Since this time, water savings have been achieved and maintained as a result of a reduction in water use at the on-site demineralisation plant. This was primarily due to changes in the start-up routine of the de-mineralisation plant, an initiative identified in the WaterMAP.
Somerton air emissions as reported to the National Pollutant Inventory have slightly decreased in 2008/09, in line with the slight reduction in generation during the same period.
Somerton Power Station operates in accordance with a Waste Discharge Licence2 under the Victorian Environment Protection Act 1970. Somerton Power Station is subject to the Environment Protection (Environment and Resource Efficiency Plans (EREP) Regulations 2007. These regulations require AGL to make an assessment of water, energy and waste resource use and savings that can be made with a three year payback period. During the reporting period, AGL registered, submitted and received approval of the Somerton EREP from the Victorian Environmental Protection Authority.
No fines have been levied on this part of the business during 2008/09.
Torrens Island Power Station, located 18 km from Adelaide, is the largest power station in South Australia and the largest natural gas fired power station in Australia. The power station consists of two plants: Sections A and B. Section A has four 120 MW units and is used to meet peak generation requirements. Section B has four 200 MW units and has a load-following duty in the National Electricity Market. The principal fuel used is natural gas, with fuel oil used as a back-up when natural gas is constrained.
The majority of process water used at Torrens Island Power Station is bore water, with the remainder being town water purchased from SA Water. Bore water is used in the generation process while town water is used for domestic purposes. The bore water undergoes two treatment processes to make it suitable for use as boiler feedwater. The first is reverse osmosis and the second is demineralisation.
Torrens Island Power Station uses sea water for cooling. The Environmental Authorisation requires monitoring of cooling water thermal discharges to the marine environment and verification by an independent auditor every two years. An independent audit of the condenser cooling water thermal discharge monitoring program was conducted in November 2008 which confirmed continuing compliance with Authorisation limits.
In 2008/09, Torrens Island Power Station used 294.6 ML of water compared with 309 ML in 2007/08. This decrease is due to reduced generation during 2008/09 compared with the previous year.
The primary fuel used for both sections of the power station is natural gas, with a back up fuel oil firing capability. Air emissions from the station can therefore vary from year to year and depend on factors including the consumption of each fuel during the period.
In 2008/09 there was a general reduction of air emissions. However, SO2 emissions increased slightly, due to the increased use of fuel oil during the period, as fuel oil has higher sulphur content than natural gas.
Torrens Island Power Station operates in accordance with Environmental Authorisation 12849 and EPA Dark Smoke Exemption 14179 under the South Australian Environmental Protection Act 1993.
During the reporting period, AGL conducted an environmental review of prescribed licensed activities and other environmental aspects of the operation of the power station. The Environmental Authorisation was renewed for a ten year period until January 2019. An independent audit of the condenser cooling water thermal discharge monitoring program confirmed continuing compliance with Authorisation limits.
The SA Seabird Rescue facility is housed within the grounds of the Torrens Island Power Station. It provides rescue, rehabilitation and return to habitat support for birds, sea lions, penguins and other creatures injured in and around the Torrens Island estuary. As well as a fully equipped veterinary clinic and office area, the facility contains a number of external cages as well as an open compound which is used to house the injured creatures.
AGL is proud to provide ongoing support for SA Seabird Rescue by funding the rent, office, phone and fuel costs for the service.
AGL Hydro power generation facilities are located across New South Wales and Victoria. The hydro-electricity assets include flexible catchment controlled cascade power stations, ‘run of river’ power stations and irrigation driven facilities. Many of the schemes are located in, or discharge into, national parks and other areas of natural environmental significance, and utilise water destined for a significant number of downstream water users.
The facilities comprise the following:
Key environmental management processes for the hydro catchments include management of water quality through the annual dam desilting program, easement management and bushfire management.
Serious bushfires occurring in the alpine catchments cause soil erosion, ash and silt loading in watercourses, and other impacts on water quality due to reduced retention times and infiltration of water falling in the catchments.
Bushfires in the catchment have the potential to damage AGL’s hydro facilities. Damage to local environments may also reduce the operating capacity of AGL’s facilities, or result in constraints on its operation.
Easement management is undertaken to reduce the risk of bushfire and damage or AGL’s assets.
The severe Victorian bushfires in February 2009 affected some catchment areas, particularly the Mountain Streams Scheme. While no significant damage to assets was experienced, close monitoring of silt loading and blocking of watercourses is continuing.
An annual dam desilting program is undertaken at the Kiewa and Mountain Streams schemes. This program comprises critical maintenance activities designed to retain the operating capacity and flexibility of these schemes.
A desilting working group meets annually, to review processes, key dates and annual biota monitoring data and reach agreement on the annual program of works. The working group members include local catchment authorities, Freshwater Ecology Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), Parks Victoria, EPA, and the Department of Primary Industries. Desilting works are conducted in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding between the key stakeholders.
Desilting works are conducted during the higher flow winter months to reduce effects on the ecology of the river systems. Silt is removed by a combination of direct flushing into the river system or removal by excavation. Parameters for silt and nutrient load in the downstream waters have been agreed and set for the desilting works and are monitored at intervals of 15 minutes to one hour, depending on location. The desilting process has been undertaken annually for more than ten years and in that time has been shown to have no significant impacts on the ecology of the river system, based on long-term studies of the macro-invertebrate studies undertaken by the Freshwater Ecology Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research at DSE.
AGL Hydro manages a network of allocated easements across the operational area in the Victorian alpine region. Vegetation management in these easements is undertaken for operational and safety purposes. Easement management is part of our bushfire mitigation program which is a requirement of the Electrical Safety Act, under the bushfire and vegetation regulations. AGL informs Parks Victoria and the Department of Sustainability and Environment of vegetation management activities and where we need to increase the easement or alter our practices. We consult with these important stakeholders to identify an appropriate solution.
AGL currently operates coal seam gas (CSG) production and exploration operations as follows:
AGL has also commenced the approval phase for exploration in the Cooper Basin South Australia and at North Camden New South Wales.
The Camden Gas Project is a coal seam gas extraction and processing operation in Camden, New South Wales. During 2008/09, AGL operated 77 gas extraction wells and the Rosalind Park Gas Plant. Four new wells were drilled during the year.
One of the key environmental management matters at the Camden Gas Project is water use and wastewater disposal. However, gas wells in the Camden Gas Project are comparatively dry compared with coal seam gas operations in other States and Territories, since there is less water in the ground in the surrounding area.
A total of 4.6 ML of water was drawn from the Sydney Water mains supply during 2008/09. This water is primarily used for the drilling of new wells and, to a lesser extent, for daily operations at the Rosalind Park Gas Plant. This is 39% lower than the volume used during 2007/08. This decrease is a result of the lower number of wells drilled during 2008/09 compared to previous years and the preference to drill more water efficient surface to in-seam wells. In 2008/09 AGL drilled four new wells and had 77 operational wells compared to drilling nine new wells and operating 75 wells in 2007/08.
The increasing preference is to drill surface to in-seam (SIS) horizontal wells, as opposed to the more traditional deviated and vertical wells. Drilling SIS wells eliminates the need to hydraulically fracture the well’s coal seam, further reducing water consumption. However, we have not yet completed any detailed analysis on water use comparisons between SIS and vertical or deviated wells.
Rainwater continues to be collected from roof runoff of offices and other buildings at the established Rosalind Park Gas Plant, and stored in water tanks onsite. The quantity of this water is not metered, and is used for daily operations at the office, living quarters and workshop.
The following wastewater streams are managed in our coal seam operations at the Camden Gas Project:
The Camden Gas Project operations are licensed under the New South Wales Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 and operate under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1974.
AGL continues to work closely with the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority and the New South Wales Department of Planning on resolving historical licence non-compliance issues. During 2008/09, non-compliance for fine particulates was reported at the Rosalind Park Gas Plant. Further maintenance works at the gas plant and additional monitoring has shown that the facility is subsequently operating in accordance with licence limits. No fines or penalties have been incurred.
During 2008/09 a licence variation was obtained which allows AGL to maintain a continuous database of well site and ancillary facility location information. AGL is now no longer required to amend its licence each time a new well is drilled.
During 2007/08, the Ray Beddoe Treatment Plant was decommissioned. Site rehabilitation was completed during 2008/09 and AGL has surrendered the environmental protection licence under which this plant formerly operated.
AGL acquired the Gloucester Gas Project in December 2008. This project, which involves gas exploration, operates in accordance with the Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 285 under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1974. AGL is in communication with the Department of Primary Industries and the Department of Water and Energy in regards to environmental performance.
Water use, wastewater disposal and noise are the major environmental impacts for the project. A full environmental footprint for the Gloucester Gas Project will be included in the 2009/10 Sustainability Report, after AGL has completed a full year of operations.
On 1 April 2009, AGL became the operator of the Hunter Gas Project after becoming the owner of Sydney Gas Limited. The project is in the exploration phase and operates in accordance with requirements of Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 267 and PEL 4 under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1974.
Environmental footprint information for the Hunter Gas Project will be included in the 2009/10 Sustainability Report, after AGL has completed a full year of operations.
The Galilee Gas Project comprises a range of preparation works for the production testing of the Glenaras pilot in the Galilee Basin in Queensland. The works are required to comply with the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 and the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and associated regulations.
A Level 1 Environmental Authority was recently granted for the tenure. The Queensland EPA is currently reviewing the design of the Glenaras holding pond.
The Galilee Basin is expected to have higher permeability coals than in the Sydney Basin, and these will result in much larger quantities of produced water. AGL is working with the Queensland EPA and other regulatory bodies to ascertain the best use for the produced water expected from this field in the future. A temporary holding pond is planned for the short term exploration phase to manage produced water.
Environmental footprint information for the Galilee Gas Project will be included in the 2009/10 Sustainability Report, after AGL has completed a full year of operations.
The AGL Energy Services business builds, owns and/or operates small power generation facilities usually on site at energy customers’ facilities. These include facilities that are fuelled by natural gas, solar, biogas, landfill gas, bagasse and agricultural waste. AGL Energy Services also owns and/or operates a series of landfill gas flaring facilities.
All AGL Energy Services facilities are operated in accordance with the Life Guard HSE management system and are included in the annual HSE management system audit process.
During the reporting period it was identified that the Suncoast Gold Macadamia cogeneration facility failed to conduct stack testing as required by the Queensland EPA environmental protection licence ENRE00720507. This was reported to and discussed with Queensland EPA. As the facility is seasonal in its operations, stack testing has been scheduled to occur when the facility is next operational, which is expected to be early in 2009/10.
No fines were incurred during 2008/09.
The Symex cogeneration facility is subject to the Victorian Environment Protection (Environment and Resource Efficiency Plans) Regulations 2007. These regulations require AGL to make an assessment of water, energy and waste resource use and savings that can be made within a three-year payback period. During 2008/09, AGL registered, submitted and received approval of the Symex EREP from the Victorian Environmental Protection Authority.
AGL employs a project by project fatal flaw analysis in the early stages of any electricity generation development opportunity. This analysis focuses on any aspect that may constitute a significant risk to the development or to AGL, including environmental risks.
Several of AGL’s recent and current construction projects are wind farms. These do not have a significant impact on water resources over the lifecycle of the assets. The potential consequences of wind farm developments on biodiversity, such as bird strike, are addressed in environmental impact assessments for the projects. During 2008/09 there have been no reported instances of bird strike at any of the wind farms that AGL is operating or developing.
Construction of the Hallett 2 Wind Farm progressed during 2008/09 with the last wind turbine installed in June 2009. The wind farm has an installed capacity of 71.4 MW and commissioning is planned to be complete by late 2009.
An Environmental Management Plan was developed for the construction of the wind farm and included measures to protect native grasses and control erosion. The wind farm was designed and constructed to minimise impacts on native grasses. A payment was also made to assist with other environmental projects undertaken by the Native Vegetation Council.
Post-construction, AGL will complete an audit of the works and their impact on native grasses for submission to the Native Vegetation Council during 2009/10.
The Hallett 4 Wind Farm will deliver 132 MW of installed capacity. Approval was provided in June 2009 allowing site mobilisation and commencement of preliminary works. An Environmental Management Plan has been prepared for the construction activities, and the included requirements to undertake environmental surveys for potential pygmy blue tongue lizard habitat and populations, birds and bats have commenced.
At 30 June 2009 the AGL Hydro project at Bogong was nearing completion. A comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was developed to examine the project’s environmental impacts. The EIA was prepared after extensive consultation with interested stakeholders. The results of the investigations have shown that the project would not have a significant impact on any threatened flora or fauna species. These detailed investigations undertaken in previous years included terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna surveys and studies of the area's geomorphology and geology, surface water and ground water systems, climate and meteorological conditions, greenhouse gas abatement implications, noise and vibration, socioeconomics and tourism, landscape and visual character, cultural heritage values and planning considerations.
The project will reinstate the flows in the Pretty Valley branch of the East Kiewa River. It will also include the restoration of previously degraded land. Detailed revegetation plans for construction sites are being developed, which set out plant species and densities to be achieved. This will provide improvement to biodiversity and deliver necessary net gains.
A comprehensive program has been implemented to monitor the recovery of the Pretty Valley branch of the East Kiewa River. Once flows are restored to naturally occurring conditions following the commissioning of the Bogong Power Station, discharges that are presently occurring from the McKay Creek Power Station will be diverted directly to the newly constructed Bogong Power Station via an underground tunnel, eliminating the existing environmental and public safety impacts that occur from high velocity river flows.
In the 2008 Sustainability Report, AGL highlighted a number of initiatives under the umbrella of a Green Office Program. The Safe and Sustainable value and our Environmental Principles link to the resource efficiency aim of AGL’s Green Office Program.
In the 2008 Sustainability Report we undertook to review the use of recycled paper in our offices. During 2008/09 we worked with our stationery provider and AGL’s Purchasing Manager to identify suitable paper types for future use. Two were selected to provide choice within the business: a 100% recycled European paper with strong environmental credentials (as evidenced by its Blue Angel certification) and an 80% recycled Australian-made paper. In early 2009/10 our on-line stationery ordering system will be altered to only allow orders of these paper types when purchasing A4 office copy paper for our main offices and facilities.
Paper use remains a significant feature of our office operations.
To complement the introduction of recycled paper, AGL has established a target for 2009/10 of reducing the amount of office paper used per person (FTE) by 10% compared to 2008/09 by 30 June 2010.
Printed paper has increased from 270 tonnes in 2007/08 to 361 tonnes in 2008/09. There are a number of reasons for this significant increase including:
We introduced a new carbon neutral paper stock ‘Envi’ for customer and business communications materials. This paper has Federal Government Greenhouse Friendly certification and is one of the ways AGL is reducing the greenhouse emissions from our supply chain.
Office copy paper has decreased this year from 41 tonnes in 2007/08 to approximately 32 tonnes in 2008/09. In addition, paper use per person has decreased from 25 kg per person to 15 kg per person. The reasons for this reduction include:
During 2008/09, waste and recycling audits were completed for our Eastwood, North Sydney and Brisbane offices.
The Brisbane office has not had access to a glass and plastic recycling services, and we are currently working to source a suitable provider for this service.
During 2008/09, AGL undertook an internal review of the electricity consumption of its major office tenancies. The internal review was based on external rating systems and sought to capitalise upon the expertise of AGL employees about energy consumption and energy efficiency opportunities.
The review identified that the energy efficiency of our North Sydney and Eastwood offices was rated as above average and strong respectively, whereas the performance of our Collins Street, Spencer Street and Brisbane offices were rated as poor or very poor.
In light of these results we will be reviewing what changes we can make during the future of our tenancies to improve our performance in energy efficiency.
During 2008/09, AGL undertook an assessment of the fuel and greenhouse efficiency of our vehicle fleet.
During 2008/09, the estimated average greenhouse emissions per vehicle was 9.3 tCO2e (based on 121 vehicles), compared to 6.1 t CO2e in 2007/08 (based on 151 vehicles). During 2008/09 diesel fuel made up a greater proportion of the total fuel use than the previous year.
In 2009/10, AGL will identify guidelines for vehicle fleet purchase where fuel type and efficiency are considered as part of the vehicle choice process.
Water use has increased in our Spencer Street offices and in our Collins Street offices. There are numerous reasons for this trend including:
AGL’s Purchasing Policy states that we will only deal with suppliers who display good corporate citizenship, ethical behaviour, and whose goods are not produced involving the abuse or exploitation of anybody or which have a negative environmental impact.
During 2008/09, the cost of goods sold (purchase of gas and electricity) was equivalent to 80% of AGL’s sales revenue. The most significant supply chain environmental impact from the purchase of energy is the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the production, transportation, distribution and consumption of electricity and gas. AGL assesses and discloses these emissions as part of the Energy Supply Greenhouse Footprint.
AGL’s strategy to manage the supply chain impacts of purchased wholesale energy includes:
Further information on our greenhouse strategies is included in the Greenhouse section of this report. In 2008/09 we have continued to sell electricity with lower greenhouse gas intensity than the State average, for every State in which we operate.
In recognition of the effect that electricity generation can have on biodiversity, AGL also has a Biomass Policy which states that AGL will not source fuel for power generation from native forest or from crops located in areas cleared of native forest after 1990.
AGL aims to have zero environmental incidents. A total of 12 environmental incidents were recorded in our corporate incident reporting systems during 2008/09, compared with 16 incidents recorded in 2007/08.
None of the incidents reported in our databases in 2008/09 were classified as significant, nor resulted in any fines from environmental regulatory authorities.
Three environmental incidents involved minor oil spills at the Torrens Island Power Station. Each spill was contained onsite within concreted pavement areas and cleaned up.
Three environmental incidents occurred at the Camden Gas Project, two of which involved hydraulic oil and radiator fluid spills to ground which were cleaned up and disposed of immediately. The third incident involved inappropriate location of hazardous waste on site for disposal. The waste was identified as residing in the wrong location for appropriate disposal and disposed of correctly.
Two environmental incidents occurred at the Gloucester Gas Project. One of these incidents, involving the spill of wastewater from drilling operations into a paddock, was reported to the Department of Primary Industries. The other incident involved an uncontrolled release of drilling fluid into a temporary water storage dam.
One environmental incident occurred during the construction of the Berwyndale to Wallumbilla pipeline. We experienced a small overflow of sewage to surrounding ground, which was cleaned up as soon as the incident was identified and subsequently reported.
We also recorded three minor environmental incidents relating to odour and interior visual impact.
1 (Licence No. 2695)
2 No. EA 51148
