Wesfarmers Energy is composed of five business units: four units that focus on gas and one unit on electricity generation.

Our activities include:

• The manufacture and distribution of industrial, medical and speciality gases by Coregas in eastern Australia and Air Liquide WA (ALWA) (40 per cent Wesfarmers-owned) operating in WA and the NT.
• Production, import and export of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by Wesfarmers LPG (WLPG).
• Distribution, marketing and sales of LPG and LNG by Kleenheat Gas.
• Power generation for remote industrial and residential sites by enGen.

Our division employs 945 permanent employees. We aim to improve our sustainability outcomes through the continuation of a strong focus on compliance, safety, health, the environment and the communities in which we operate.

During the year, Coregas introduced leading indicators for the early identification and control of hazards. This resulted in a significant number of additional hazards being eliminated from the site. Manual handling, fatigue, and driver training programs continued to be rolled out to all branches.

Overall, our business units performed well in regards to LTI. enGen and WLPG recorded seven years LTI-free, and ALWA recorded four years LTI-free. WLPG, however had an LTI in April 2010 where a contractor injured his hand.

Other business unit activities included:

• ALWA successfully conducting a simulated emergency exercise in June 2010.
• Kleenheat commencing upgrades of two major sites (Deer Park and Pinkenba), and continuing the Levers for Change program by actioning items from the employee survey. Kleenheat’s occupational health and safety management system has also been redeveloped and is now being implemented.
• WLPG completing a safety integrity level determination study for the LPG plant. We also started an EEO program at the site.

Our division has successfully implemented a number of programs during the year.

Coregas achieved a high response rate to its second CorePeople employee survey. The goals are to ensure that employees understand their role in achieving corporate objectives, that issues that most influence employee commitment, motivation and performance are addressed, that the company hears and acts on the feedback, and that people understand how important they are to Coregas.

Coregas employees underwent training in areas including strategy, leadership and change, compliance training, and health, safety and environment training in JSA’s, injury management and manual handling.

Kleenheat’s Levers for Change program continued with follow up from a recent culture survey. ALWA continued their behavioural safety visits, aimed at highlighting safe behaviour and improving safety culture through engaging with and listening to employees.

ALWA successfully conducted a simulated emergency exercise to test the Emergency Management Plan. Team members ensured back-up personnel were trained and competent. The scenario included police, the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of WA, medical practitioners, customers and other organisations.

Kleenheat and WLPG training included both executive development and employee leadership development, supervisory skills, safety management, fire fighting, first-aid, basic life support and confined space entry.

enGen achieved accreditation to AS4801 – Safety Management Systems, via NCS International. enGen achieved seven years operation without a LTI, as did WLPG.

A divisional indigenous strategy had been drafted but was put on hold pending the merger with the Chemicals and Fertilisers division. Under the new division, the strategies will be finalised and implemented across business units.

Water

WLPG progressed its water efficiency management plan by implementing a number of projects aimed at reducing water consumption. Actions include installing signs at water usage points to encourage responsible use of water, capturing and reusing wastewater from evaporative coolers, and fitting toilets with dual-flush systems. Estimated savings are 393 kilolitres of water per year.

Waste

enGen are working with Anglo Gold to ensure safe disposal of used coolant from the Sunrise Dam generator cooling systems. This required an understanding of any environmental effects of the coolant, followed by an investigation of the various disposal options and selection of an appropriate method.

Air emissions

ALWA, Kleenheat and WLPG National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) emissions for the 2008/09 year were submitted to NPI. The data is available at www.npi.gov.au.

Contamination

Kleenheat owns sites in Kwinana (WA) and Deer Park (Vic), and leases sites at Camellia (NSW), Pinkenba (Qld), and Self’s Point (Tas) which are either contaminated or potentially contaminated from previous or neighbouring land uses unrelated to Kleenheat. Management of this contamination is the responsibility of the entities that originally created the issue.

Kleenheat owns sites at Dungong (NSW), and Gepps Cross, SA which are being investigated to establish if historical land uses have caused contamination at the sites.

Kleenheat formerly occupied sites in Queens Park and Osborne Park (WA) which are subject to hydrocarbon contamination. Both sites have been reported to the DEC under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003 however responsibility for remediation of these sites is yet to be determined. Kleenheat is participating in the Contaminated Sites Committee proceedings relating to the Osborne Park site (which will determine responsibility for remediation of that site) and has undertaken groundwater monitoring of the Queens Park and Osborne Park plumes in the past year.

The WLPG site at Kwinana is classified as ‘Contaminated – Restricted Use’ under the Contaminated Sites Act, 2003, due to previous land use. No further action is required with respect to this contamination.

Noise

WLPG successfully addressed a noise issue reported last year by erecting an acoustic shield to attenuate noise from the flare. Kleenheat installed a specialised silencer on a compressor at its Armidale (NSW) site following receipt of some community complaints. Testing showed that the installation now complies with noise legislation and satisfies local council requirements.

Recycling

Kleenheat recycles approximately 75 per cent of its solid waste which is mainly brass and steel from condemned gas cylinders.

Greenhouse emissions

Our total greenhouse gas emissions were 467,884 tonnes of CO₂e, down 17.4 per cent on last year, and this equates to 766 tonnes of CO₂e per million dollars of revenue, down 17.6 per cent on last year. The greenhouse gas emissions were largely due to natural gas and diesel used in our power stations and electricity consumption in our industrial plants.

Kleenheat has purchased two additional LNG-powered prime movers to service LNG delivery requirements.

Energy use

The division’s main energy use during the year related to natural gas consumption. Total energy consumption was 6.10 million gigajoules, down 14 per cent on last year. Our total energy consumption per million dollars of revenue was 9,978 gigajoules, down 20 per cent on last year. The main reason for the reduction in energy use and greenhouse emissions is the removal of the Coregas Air Separation Unit from this data as the plant’s customer is responsible for energy supply.

Energy efficiency initiatives

WLPG commenced an energy efficiency initiatives program this year. For the first time WLPG will be reported in Wesfarmers’ in Energy Efficiency Opportunities report because it now exceeds the energy use trigger level.

The division’s facilities operate under licences issued by state governments (or the Government of Bangladesh). We are not aware of any potential non-compliance during the year with licensing or approval conditions.

Coregas submitted its safety report to Workcover NSW in order to comply with MHF legislation.

Last year, WLPG reported on developments after receiving a noise complaint during shipping activity. WLPG followed up with a noise survey of our facility which showed limits were exceeded by approximately one to two dBA on the southern boundary. This year, an acoustic screen was installed at the flare base and a follow-up noise survey confirmed compliance with the noise regulations. The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and community representatives were advised of this outcome.

WLPG submitted a safety report for approval in November 2009. The Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) granted an extension for an approved safety report to 30 June 2010 and more recently to 1 February 2011. While the DMP is satisfied that we can operate our facility safely, this extension will allow WLPG time to review and format our formal safety assessment section of the safety report.

All business units continued to provide support for various community activities through direct financial support, the donation of products, or our people’s time.

Kleenheat formed a partnership with the Salvation Army and developed the Regional Care Services program which was launched in October. The program provides support to communities in regional Australia. Kleenheat also supported other various charities and local sporting groups and continued its sponsorship of a Bangladesh school. Support was both financial as well as the provision of products.

Evol LNG, Kleenheat’s LNG brand, continued its commitment as a major partner to the Asthma Foundation. Some employees took part in the ‘Freeway Bike Hike’ as part of this year’s fundraising.

Coregas has been sponsoring the Tradeperson of the Year Award through the Welding Technology Industry Association for 24 years, as well as supporting the Constable Care program, Diabetes Australia Kids Camp, Macquarie Hospital and Sydney Heritage Fleet.

For enGen, the reliability of electricity supply at a number of towns continued to improve with 11 towns achieving the milestone of no power supply interruptions due to power station problems. This compares to other towns operated by other companies where there is one outage a month due to power station issues.

enGen commenced supply of a major power station for BHP Billiton (BHPB) at its Area C mine to support its mine expansions. The power station was commissioned in September 2010 and now supplies 18 megawatts to BHPB’s Pilbara (WA) electricity network. enGen also entered into a contract with the Federal Attorney General’s Department to expand and upgrade the Christmas Island (WA) power station. On completion, this project will double the capacity of the existing power station and enable the retirement of three aging units of the station.

Kleenheat is upgrading its sites at Deer Park (Vic) and Pinkenba (Qld). The new facilities will include semi-automated processes intended to reduce some hazards to plant personnel (eg manual handling) and allow for increased capacity.