* Aims to import up to 2 mln tonnes LNG a year to Australia
* Group may charter LNG import vessel for $30-$35 mln a year
* Targeting sales to major industrial gas users
* Aims for investment decision this year, start-up in 2020 (Adds consortium's comments)
By Sonali Paul
MELBOURNE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A consortium including Japan's JERA and Marubeni Corp 8002.T is aiming to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Australia's east coast, looking to supply industrial gas users and possibly a new power plant, the group said on Monday.
This is the second proposed LNG import terminal for Australia, the world's no.2 LNG exporter, as the country grapples with a supply gap at a time when its gas producers have locked in long-term contracts to sell LNG to Japan, China and South Korea.
A final investment decision is expected this year on the project to import up to around 2 million tonnes a year of LNG starting in 2020, James Baulderstone, who is leading the Australian Industrial Energy group, told Reuters.
"This market is in quite desperate need for more gas to come in," said Baulderstone, a former Santos Ltd STO.AX executive, pointing to soaring energy prices.
The LNG receiving terminal would be able to meet up to three-quarters of the gas needs of Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, where manufacturers like BlueScope Steel BSL.AX and Orica ORI.AX have major operations.
Baulderstone said the consortium would probably charter an existing LNG import vessel, at an estimated cost of around $30 million to $35 million a year, rather than building a new floating storage and regasification unit.
That is a fraction of the billions of dollars that would be needed to develop a new gas field and pipelines to supply the equivalent volume of gas, 100 petajoules a year.
"The efficiency of capital is extraordinary because you don't have to spend that much capital to effectively charter a boat and connect it to the existing east coast grid," he said.
The proposed new LNG import terminal would be located at either Port Botany, Port Kembla and Newcastle, all of which are close to existing gas pipelines, helping to keep down costs.
Australian Industrial Energy's investors, as first reported by the Australian Financial Review, are mining billionaire Andrew Forrest's Squadron Energy, Marubeni and JERA, the world's biggest LNG buyer, which is a joint venture of Tokyo Electric Power Co 9501.T and Chubu Electric Power Co 9502.T .
LNG supply could come from JERA's portfolio, Baulderstone said, but the consortium also plans to talk to new suppliers in the United States, Asia and Western Australia.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) Co GE.N is providing technical support and design services for development and construction of a gas-fired power plant.
A JERA spokesman declined to comment and Marubeni was not immediately available for comment.
Australia's top power generator, AGL Energy AGL.AX , is also considering building an LNG import terminal off the coast of the neighbouring state of Victoria, but that would mostly meet its own needs, supplying its gas-fired power stations and households.
While LNG is cheap at the moment, prices are expected to rise in the early 2020s, which could make it difficult to justify imports to Australia, said Saul Kavonic, an analyst at consultants Wood Mackenzie.
"The economic case for Australian LNG imports remains marginal at best, and is not guaranteed to happen," he said.
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