Jemena’s renewable gas projects and pilot programs – particularly biomethane – aim to demonstrate the viability and clear pathway for industries to meet emissions obligations without compromising in process efficiency and operational costs.
Currently a $12.9 billion energy infrastructure company, Jemena owns and manages some of Australia’s largest gas and electricity assets, supplying millions of households and businesses daily with essential energy. With more than a century of experience in the utilities sector, Jemena has invested in renewable gases as a plausible alternative to decarbonise for manufacturers and industrial businesses.
“Renewable gas can provide an affordable decarbonisation solution for manufacturing industries, allowing them to produce low-carbon products at a cost competitive price,” said Renewable Gas general manager, Jemena, Suzie Jakobovits.
Jakobovits is at the centre of these renewable gas operations, bringing 25 years of strategy and leadership experience to the company. In her role, she leads Jemena’s Renewable Gas strategy and the development of a renewable gas market to offer large gas users a decarbonisation alternative.
“We’re actively engaging with policymakers to advocate for supportive policy settings that will help unlock and stimulate this emerging renewable gas market,” she said. “We’re working closely with renewable gas producers to help connect their facilities to the network and collaborating with industrial customers, helping them explore how renewable gas can support their decarbonisation efforts.”
Jemena’s recent projects have focused primarily on biomethane, a renewable gas that Jakobovits believes can largely help industries like manufacturing in meeting safeguard mechanisms and other emissions reduction targets. The renewable gas – created by upgrading the biogas that comes from decomposing organic waste or wastewater – can be a drop-in substitute for natural gas with minimal impact on operations, processes, equipment and costs.
“Jemena sees biomethane as a here and now solution, which is 100 per cent compatible with existing infrastructure, industrial equipment and appliances,” she said. “We educate feedstock owners about the additional revenue opportunities available from their waste materials and work with stakeholders to support the development of markets for the by-products of biomethane.”
Tapping into a renewable alternative
While many businesses within industrial sectors have internal goals and enforced objectives to reduce emissions and decarbonise, their production processes cannot be easily and cost-effectively electrified. According to Jakobovits, biomethane is a drop-in solution for businesses who use natural gas within their processes.
“Biomethane is chemically identical to natural gas and 100 per cent compatible with existing gas appliances, equipment and infrastructure,” said Jakobovits. “Unlike hydrogen and electrification, industrial and manufacturing businesses can continue to use their existing appliances and can avoid new-for-old replacements and costly buildouts.
“Additionally, for some other industrial processes, such as the production of certain steel products, the decarbonisation pathway can often be to initially switch from coal or diesel to gas.”
Jakobovits said biomethane – that across all feedstocks is in the production cost range of $10-43/GJ – also presents itself as a cost competitive renewable gas option. When compared to other decarbonisation options like fully electrifying, its cost effectiveness is more evident.
“For many businesses, the most cost-effective option to decarbonise, considering both opex and capex requirements, is through renewable gas, specifically biomethane,” she said.
The company’s emphasis on biomethane as a sustainable alternative is represented through its Australia-first Malabar Biomethane Injection Plant in NSW. The project has been operational for almost two years and is proving the technical and commercial viability of injecting biomethane into the gas network.
“Malabar Biomethane Injection Plant is currently injecting the equivalent average annual gas usage of 6,300 homes through the NSW gas distribution network,” said Jakobovits. “There are many learnings from the project, including opportunities to improve the design and reduce capital costs in construction and operation.”
This demonstration project is just a part of Jemena’s efforts to assess the feasibility of injecting biomethane into the NSW gas distribution network. Jemena has also signed a range of MOUs to work with producers to assess the feasibility of injecting further biomethane into the network. These include Valorify, Optimal Renewable Gas, GCE, and Sojitz.
“Our partnerships with these innovative developers are located in proximity to the Jemena network. With locations slated in regional and rural communities, the businesses will help local communities utilise their agricultural waste to unlock further economic potential,” said Jakobovits. “We already have MOUs covering 10.3PJ of supply. With the right policy settings, this could scale up rapidly.”
Jakobovits said this potential to scale up is backed by research conducted in 2022 by Enea Consulting, who have estimated this untapped resource could produce 137PJ of biomethane each year in NSW alone – exceeding current NSW gas consumption.
A vision for the future of Australian industry
As a drop-in, cost-effective solution to reduce emissions, biomethane’s potential to help the nation’s energy transition is acknowledged within the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Bioenergy Roadmap, which notes the sector could, by 2030:
• Contribute around $10 billion in extra GDP per annum.
• Create more than 26,000 new jobs.
• Reduce emissions by about 9 per cent.
• Enhance Australia’s fuel security.
The roadmap also shows that bioenergy could supply up to 20 per cent of Australia’s total energy consumption by the 2050s with a total potential of 2,600 petajoules per year. This could represent more than 40 per cent of Australia’s current primary energy supply – more than 10 times today’s bioenergy production.
“Jemena agrees with the Bioenergy Australia Roadmap assessment and believes biomethane has the potential to provide significant economic benefits to regional Australia,” said Jakobovits.
Jakobovits emphasised that renewable gas – including biomethane – can help ensure manufacturing remains competitive and low-carbon at the same time. She said these benefits mean bringing practical life to the Federal Government’s Future Made in Australia.
Bringing a feasible option to market
For what is potentially a defining element in Australia’s push towards decarbonisation, Jemena has carefully defined its long-term goals for renewable gas.
“Our objective is to create a viable renewable gas market in Australia with a view to progressively replace the natural gas flowing through our NSW distribution network with 100 renewable gases by 2050,” said Jakobovits.
To reach such an ambitious objective, Jakobovits said Jemena has planned its immediate actions that target supportive policies and market signals. These include:
• Biomethane to be recognised in the National Greenhouse Emissions Reporting Scheme allowing industry to count its use in their emissions reporting.
• Biomethane to be included in the NSW Renewable Fuels Scheme.
• A National Renewable Gas Target to drive the market.
“Renewable electricity has received the benefit of supportive policy settings over the past 25 years,” she said. “The renewable gas industry now requires the same amount of support – with both supply and demand incentives to stimulate a vibrant market that can complement renewable electricity and help accelerate Australia’s journey to net zero.”
Yet, Jakobovits insisted that encouraging movement from Federal and State Governments is already being seen.
“This promising action includes the recent communique from the energy minister to investigate viable pathways to decarbonise parts of industry where electrification is not a viable option, as well as the GreenPower certification of the Malabar Biomethane facility,” she said.
Renewable gas, and biomethane in particular, offers a practical and proven pathway to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors without disrupting existing industrial operations. With the right policy support and investment, Jemena believes Australia can scale a renewable gas market that underpins a low-emissions future for domestic manufacturing.