Mr O’Brien's comments follow the Federal Government’s targeting of two of Australia’s highest carbon emitting stations: Port Augusta's Playford Power Station and Victoria's Hazelwood Power Station, both of which supply power to South Australia in peak energy demand times.

Mr O’Brien has said “It is understood that Alinta has plans to convert the Northern and Playford power stations to natural gas.”

In addition, Mr O'Brien said a new pipeline lateral running from the existing Moomba to Adelaide Pipeline would be needed to supply gas to upgraded facilities at Northern Power Station in Port Augusta.

Mr O’Brien said he expects a seamless transition from coal to gas, and that there will be no loss in baseload capacity.

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A spokesperson for Mr O’Brien told PPO News that the pipeline is still in planning and no route or design for the project has been planned as of yet.