Origin Energy
Encyclopedia
History
Origin Energy was formed in February 2000, as a result of a demergerDemerger
Demerger is a form of corporate restructuring in which the an entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components. It is the converse of a merger or acquisition....
from the Australian conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
Boral Limited, in which the energy business was removed from the building and construction materials business to form the new company.
Between 2001 and 2002, Origin acquired the Victorian electricity retailers Powercor
Powercor
Powercor is an electricity distribution company that operates throughout western Victoria and the western and southern suburbs of Melbourne....
and CitiPower. In 2004, the SEA Gas Pipeline was completed and commissioned, which served to link the Victorian and South Australian gas markets. During this time, Origin obtained 50% interest in the Kupe Gas Field, and managed to obtain Edison Mission Energy
Edison Mission Energy
Edison Mission Energy is an independent power producer based in California and owned by Edison International. In the 1990s, EME owned electricity generating assets in Victoria, Australia and 51% of Contact Energy in New Zealand....
's 51.4% interest in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's Contact Energy
Contact Energy
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, natural gas wholesaler and electricity, natural gas, and LPG retailer.The company is the second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand , generating 24 percent of New Zealand's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and...
.
On 15 December 2010, Origin Energy had announced that it would purchase the retail divisions of Country Energy
Country Energy
Country Energy is a retail subsidiary of Origin Energy. The corporation was formally owned by the Government of New South Wales. It provides natural gas and electricity to retail customers in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.-History:On 1...
and Integral Energy
Integral Energy
Integral Energy is the second largest state-owned energy corporation in New South Wales, incorporated under the Energy Services Corporations Act 1995 from a merger between Prospect Electricity and Illawarra Electricity...
from the Government of New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
, at a total cost of A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
3,250 million, as well as entering a GenTrader agreement with Eraring Energy
Eraring Energy
Eraring Energy is an electricity generation company in Australia. It is fully owned by the Government of New South Wales, and has a portfolio of generating sites using thermal coal, wind, and hydroelectric power....
(in which Origin supplies fuel, pays certain charges, and can dispatch and sell electricity output, while Eraring Energy owns, operates and maintains the power stations). The transaction was completed on 1 March 2011..
Core business
- Oil and gas exploration and production - Origin has conventional oil and gas reserves in the Cooper Basin of South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and in the Bass strait between VictoriaVictoria (Australia)Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and coalbed methaneCoalbed methaneCoalbed methane or Coal Bed Methane, coalbed gas or coal mine methane is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, and other countries...
reserves in Queensland. Outside Australia, Origin operates the Kupe gas fieldKupe fieldThe Kupe natural gas field is located in the Tasman Sea, 30 km off the coast of the town of Manaia in Taranaki, New Zealand. The field was discovered in 1986 and is located in 35 metres of water...
in the Taranaki Basin of New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. - Retail - over three million retail customers of gas or electricity in Australia, New Zealand and the south Pacific, inclusive of the 800,000 customers of Sun Retail in QLD that were acquired in February 2007.
- Generation - generating electricity from natural gasNatural gasNatural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
including Osborne, Ladbroke Grove and Quartantine Power Stations in South Australia, UranquintyUranquinty Power StationThe Uranquinty Power Station is a 640MW gas-fired power station located in Uranquinty, New South Wales, Australia and is the second largest gas-fired power station in New South Wales, which will be used during peak loads in New South Wales...
in New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Mount Stuart Power Station in TownsvilleTownsville, QueenslandTownsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...
and Roma Power Station QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. Origin does not own any coal-fired power stations. Mortlake Power StationMortlake Power StationThe Mortlake Power Station is a 550MW open cycle gas fired power station being developed by Origin Energy, located 12km west of Mortlake, Victoria....
is being developed in Victoria. - Contact Energy - Origin owns 52% of New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
electricity generation and retail company Contact EnergyContact EnergyContact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, natural gas wholesaler and electricity, natural gas, and LPG retailer.The company is the second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand , generating 24 percent of New Zealand's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and...
. - Gas transportation and distribution - Origin had significant shareholdings in Envestra Limited (17%) and SEAGas pipelineSEAGas pipelinethumb|Location of the SEA Gas PipelineThe SEA Gas pipeline is a 687km natural gas pipeline from the Iona Gas Plant in Victoria to the Pelican Point Power Station at Port Adelaide. It connects Adelaide's gas supply to Melbourne and Sydney's, thus increasing the security of natural gas supply to...
(33%). These shareholdings were sold to APA Group during 2007, along with the assets of Origin Energy Asset Management. OEAM's major asset was its contract with Envestra for the maintenance of the Envestra natural gas distribution network. - coal seam gas production and export is under development in conjunction with ConocoPhilips.
Origin is currently one of the largest residential solar retailers in Australia installing over 55MW of PV in the 12 months to August 2011. Of the large energy retailers Origin moved first and aggressively into the residential solar market. In July 2011 AGL, Origin's major competitor purchased small solar retailer Rezeko as a platform to complete in solar against Origin. AGL is yet to show success in residential solar. Origins biggest competitors in the space are True Value Solar and Nue Energy (by REC production).
Renewable energy
- Purchase contracts for the acquisition of electricity from Wind farmWind farmA wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
s in South Australia and Victoria including the entire output produced by Pacific HydroPacific HydroPacific Hydro is an Australian company that specialises in electricity generation using renewable energy. Its focus is on hydroelectricity and windpower. It was a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange until July 2005. It was subject to a successful takeover offer by a subsidiary of...
from the Challicum Hills wind farmChallicum Hills Wind Farm, Victoria (Australia)Challicum Hills Wind Farm is a wind farm encompassed by 35 NEG NM 64 wind turbines, with a total generating capacity of 52.5 MW of electricity. The wind farm is near Ararat in western Victoria, Australia. The power station was commissioned in August 2003 and is in a long term PPA with Origin...
located near Ararat and the Yambuk wind farmPortland Wind ProjectThe Portland wind farm is one of Australia's largest wind farms. Located on the coast of south-western Victoria near the city of Portland, it consists of four separate sites, of which three have been completed...
near Portland. Origin Energy is the largest buyer of wind energy in AustraliaWind power in AustraliaWind power in Australia is a proven and reliable technology that can be and is readily deployed. As of October 2010, there were 52 wind farms in Australia, most of which had turbines of from 1.5 to 3 megawatts...
. Origin does not hold any equity positions in Australian wind farms, although its partially-owned New Zealand affiliate, Contact Energy, has equity in New Zealand wind farms. - A solar energy business using solar cellSolar cellA solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
technology invented by a team led by Professor Andrew BlakersAndrew BlakersProfessor Andrew Blakers, Director of the Australian National University Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, is involved with the development of Sliver Cell photovoltaic technology which uses just one tenth of the costly silicon used in conventional solar panels while matching power,...
at The Australian National UniversityAustralian National UniversityThe Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
. Origin Energy expected to be manufacturing its sliver cell technology for the Australian market by 2008. - Geothermal powerGeothermal powerGeothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is the energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of minerals...
, a technology based on the conversion of heat sourced from deep, hot rocks into electricity. Origin's geothermal investment is via a minority shareholding stake in the Australian company Geodynamics.
Key executives
- Kevin McCann - Chairman
- Grant King - Managing Director
- Karen Moses - Executive Director, Finance and Strategy
- Robbert Willink - Executive General Manager, Geoscience and Exploration New Ventures
- Frank Calabria - Executive General Manager, Energy Markets
- Andrew Clarke - Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
- Melanie Laing - Executive General Manager, People and Culture
- Carl McCamish - Executive General Manager, Corporate Affairs
- Paul Zealand - Executive General Manager, Upstream Oil and Gas
- Andrew Stock - Executive General Manager, Major Development Projects
- David Baldwin - Chief Development Officer
- Dennis Barnes - Chief Executive Officer Contact Energy
External links
- Origin Energy - Official Site
- Boral Limited - Boral Website
- Solar cells wait for their day in the sun
- GE Energy, CH2M Hill to build power plant in Australia