News and Publications

01 Sep 2011

Kleenheat Gas: TLP pipeline in final phase of shutdown

Nine months after Kleenheat Gas announced its decision to decommission Armidale’s 110-year old tempered liquefied petroleum gas reticulated system, the pipeline is finally in shutdown phase.

Earlier this week Kleenheat Gas shut the TLP pipeline off on the north side of Dumaresq Creek, effectively concluding the first half of its decommissioning. The second half will be shut off on the south side over the next week.

Kleenheat Gas General Manager Graham Smith said it was a significant milestone for both the company and the town of Armidale, putting to bed one of the last two TLP reticulation systems left in Australia.

“We took over the system from the Armidale Dumaresq Council in 1997 at a time when TLP hadn’t yet been overtaken by other more modern and efficient options,” Mr Smith said.

“But over the next decade more than half our original 1500 customers disconnected from TLP as the popularity of LPG and other energy options grew. A big factor in their decision was the redundancy of TLP appliances, which manufacturers stopped making more than 10 years ago.”

Mr Smith said Kleenheat kept the system going for longer than practicable, but by the end of last year it was evident that continuing to run it was neither practical nor commercially viable for the company or customer.

“It’s not easy making decisions like that when hundreds of customers are affected, so offering them assistance to convert to a newer and better alternative was the right thing to do,” he said.

“Most of our customers elected to stay with us and convert to LPG, while about 10 to 15 per cent chose to go with another service provider or energy option such as electricity.”

Armidale’s TLP pipeline is around 120 kilometres long, constructed of cast iron, galvanised and non-metallic pipe. While all the gas will be purged out of the system, the pipeline itself will remain underground with no risk to safety or the environment.

Some small sections of the pipeline near the city centre will be left active for a short time during the staged conversion of commercial customers, but for all intent and purposes, the network would be officially turned off by the end of this week.

“We want to acknowledge the wonderful support we’ve received from the local Council, real estate agents, MPs, the media and most importantly, our customers, to get to this point,” Mr Smith said.

“Naturally with a project on this scale and an emotional connection felt by many to the town’s historical gas system, there have been some hurdles along the way, but on the whole it’s gone pretty smoothly.”

Mr Smith commended the community spirit of Armidale and said Kleenheat was looking forward to entering a new era with the township and its future energy needs.

Detailed information about the TLP shutdown project in Armidale will be kept on the Kleenheat Gas website until the end of October - to find, go to the Kleenheat Gas website

Kleenheat Gas can be contacted on 132 180.