THE PROPOSAL

3 The Proposal
3.1 Background to the Proposal
Terminals Pty Ltd is an Australian company providing service to industry in the form of bulk liquid
storage facilities leased to customers at strategic Australian port locations. These port locations are at
Port Botany (Sydney), Coode Island (Melbourne), Corio (Geelong) and Osborne (South Australia).
Whilst each of these facilities is wholly owned by Terminals, they are situated on land that is leased
from the relevant Port Authority.
Port Botany is one of the three major ports in New South Wales with one of the predominant trades
being petroleum products, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and liquid chemicals. The majority of
industries in the Port Botany industrial region are involved in the storage and distribution of these
products and are located on Friendship Road in the vicinity of the existing and proposed Terminals
storage facility.
Terminals have owned and operated the existing bulk liquid storage and handling facility for hazardous
and non-hazardous bulk liquids at Port Botany since 1979. The original facility has undergone three
subsequent expansions, each involving the construction of additional storage capacity. A summary of
these previous development applications is provided in the table below.
Table 1: Previous Development Applications

Number of Additional Date of DA and ref

Stage
tanks Capacity (m) (where available) Comments
1 20 22,350 1979
(original (original
DA) capacity)

2 12 5,810 1980

3 28 18,820 1987

4 4 800 1989 (840/45/D

161/88)

5 12 (actually 20,250 1997 (DA 249/96) Consent for expansion of an

constructed one (actually existing bulk liquid storage facility
- Tank 270) constructed with associated loading/unloading
5,000 facilities, pipelines, safety systems,
landscaping and fencing.
Works known as the Stage 5.
This development was legally
commenced by the construction of
1 x 5,000 m3 tank (Tank 270) and
the construction of a large hard
surfaced area surrounded by a
bund wall.

5A Additional 2 Additional September 2009 The proposed modification involves

20,000 (DA 249/96 Mod 1) the installation of 2 larger tanks,
each with a capacity of 10,000m3,
rather than the approved 12 smaller
tanks; increasing the storage
capacity from 20,250m3 to
25,000m3. This development was
named as Stage 5A.

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 THE PROPOSAL

3.2 Need for the Proposal

Since the time when the consent for DA 246/96 was granted, the demand for particular products has
shifted, with the previous modifications to the 1997 consent responding to this change. The original
approval was for twelve smaller tanks of varying sizes, designed to be filled with different
industrial/liquid fuel products. Due to various factors, only one of the twelve tanks was built (Tank 270).
Since the time of the 1997 approval, there has been a shift in the type of fuel needing to be stored, with
demand focusing on unleaded and diesel fuel. This trend is to be reflected in the consolidation of the
eleven approved smaller tanks into two larger ones.
In April 2009, legislation has been enacted into NSW under the Biofuel (Ethanol Content)
Amendment Act 2009, prescribing certain minimum requirements for using Ethanol as a fuel. Clause 6
states:
6 Minimum ethanol requirement for volume fuel sellers
(1) A volume fuel seller must ensure that the volume of ethanol sold by the seller (in
petrol-ethanol blend) during a relevant period is not less than the minimum ethanol
percentage of the total volume of all petrol (including petrol-ethanol blend) sold by the
seller during the relevant period.
(2) The "minimum ethanol percentage" is:
(a) 2% for any relevant period before a relevant period to which paragraph (b)
or (c) applies, or
(b) 4% for a relevant period that starts on or after 1 January 2010 other than a
relevant period to which paragraph (c) applies, or
(c) 6% for a relevant period that starts on or after 1 January 2011.
(3) Only ethanol that complies with a biofuel sustainability standard may be counted
towards the volume of ethanol sold for the purposes of this section.
8 Regular unleaded petrol to be E10
(1) A primary wholesaler must not sell regular unleaded petrol unless the petrol is E10.
"E10" is defined in section 3 (1) to mean petrol-ethanol blend that contains between
9% and 10% ethanol by volume, being ethanol that complies with a biofuel
sustainability standard.
(2) This section takes effect on 1 July 2011 or on a later date that is prescribed by the
regulations as the start date for the purposes of this section.
To comply with this requirement, it was planned to put ethanol and PULP into existing facility but with
other business opportunities it was deemed better logistics of constructing two new tanks at stage V
with these chemicals and in fact making room for new chemical storage at existing site. Hence it is
proposed to install 2 x 1,750m3 storage tanks for the storage of Ethanol and Premium Unleaded Petrol
(PULP). In addition, pipework and blending facilities would be installed in the existing Loading Bay to
enable petrol / ethanol blends to be loaded into trucks for subsequent distribution.
It is anticipated that PULP would come into the Terminal via tying to an existing dockline from the Bulk
Liquids Berth, whilst Ethanol is anticipated to arrive via road tankers from local Ethanol manufacturers.
Some Ethanol could also be imported via the Bulk Liquids Berth.
The proposed development is also important to support the competitive fuels market in NSW. The
proposed tanks will support the independent fuels market and petrol station operators. This is
particularly relevant in an environment of rising fuel prices as well as broader questions regarding
genuine competition in the fuels market.

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