Orora’s state-of-the-art glass manufacturing facility in South Australia will count on reliable and secure energy over the next decade thanks to a gas supply deal secured between Senex Energy and Orora.
Senex will supply more than 14 petajoules (PJ) of natural gas over ten years commencing from January 2025 from its proposed Atlas expansion in Queensland’s Surat Basin.
As a leading provider of sustainable glass packaging for customers across the food and beverage industry, Orora Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Brian Lowe said that locking in a ten-year gas supply deal was important for its future manufacturing operations.
“This secure and long-term gas supply supports our interim goal to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2019 levels by 2035*,” Mr Lowe said.
“We are implementing new technologies such as our oxygen fuelled furnace at our Gawler Plant in South Australia and increasing electrification using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar across our sites – this all contributes to our goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050*.
“At the same time, the reality is that we continue to need gas in our energy mix. Gas is a key energy source for heating our furnaces to mould the hundreds of millions of glass bottles manufactured at our Gawler plant each year,” Mr Lowe said.
Senex Chief Executive Officer Ian Davies said Senex was delighted to continue its support of a leading Australian manufacturer of sustainable glass packaging solutions.
“Orora has been on the journey with us from the beginning, signing one of the first gas contracts from our domestic-only Atlas acreage in 2019,” Mr Davies said.
“Four years on, we’re delighted to have signed another contract with Orora that continues this partnership of reliable gas supply through to 2034.
“This decade-long gas deal will not only provide Orora with a currently non-substitutable industrial heating source necessary for manufacturing, but also to power Orora’s efforts to decarbonise and grow the circular economy by creating products that can be infinitely recycled and reused.
“Natural gas is essential for Australia’s manufacturing industry, providing the on-demand, highly-controllable heat required for making essential products like glass bottles,” Mr Davies said.
The new gas agreement between Senex and Orora is conditional only on the timely recommencement of Senex’s Atlas expansion which was put on hold in December 2022 following Government intervention in the gas market. Project recommencement requires the satisfactory resolution of regulatory arrangements and the receipt of certain Commonwealth approvals.
Media statement – Senex’s Atlas gas to support Orora’s future manufacturing plans – 28 June 2023
