Plaid MP Raises the Alarm Over "Duplicate Pipeline" Proposal

National Grid's "duplicate pipeline" proposal hit the papers this week as the Western Mail revealed that Plaid MP Adam Price is now publicly raising concerns that this is "a first step in the process to get another pipeline built across Wales".

Mr. Price has been a consistent opponent of the whole LNG pipeline project since the original pipe became public knowledge back in 2005. He rightly places the pipeline in a long tradition of exploitative energy projects imposed on Wales, the most famous of which was the drowning of Cwm Celyn in the 60s, to provide water for the Liverpool Corporation.

Needless to say, his allegations have sent the grid scurrying to cover their backsides with the usual combination of spin and misinformation. They claim in response that the document is "a technical industry document on the standard length of time it should take to connect in new sources of gas to the transmission system" and that that the "example" was used "only for illustrative purposes.”

Nice to know National Grid have a hidden artistic side...

In any case, Adam Price counters that British Gas' positive response to the exercise lends weight to the view that National Grid's proposal is a genuine industry consultation document that has been put out to key players in the gas industry.

And of course, it doesn't hurt to point out that British Gas, along with Dutch company Petroplus, is a partner in the Dragon LNG terminal in Milford Haven...

So who's right?

Well, let's ask the Regulator. On the 18th of October 2005, some six months prior to the release of the May 2006 document, a letter circulated by Ofgem to "Gas Transporters...and other interested parties" shows National Grid were putting out feelers about the duplicate pipeline even before Phase 1 of the current project had recieved approval from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Did Ofgem think it was a hypothetical exercise too?

In the last analysis this new pipe may well only be part of an industry consultation exercise. But a detailed review of the figures from each of NG's yearly QSEC (Quarterly Sale of Entry Capacity) Auctions points to a clear trend; with every new Auction, from 2004 through 2006, National Grid are continually ramping up the amounts of gas capacity they are offering to transport through Milford Haven.

Eventually, these amounts will exceed the quantity that can be physically transported by the existing pipeline (assuming it's commissioned). And at that point a second pipeline will become slightly more than "illustrative".