Powerco construction manager Barry Parsons said the first phase of construction would see 4400m of pipe laid in the Bell Bay industrial area and that Powerco would also work on a pressure reduction, metering and gas heating facility in the Bell Bay area to enable connection to the Duke Energy transmission system.

The principal contractor for this Bell Bay activity is Team Agility and that company expects to take about five weeks to complete the first phase. Powerco was also talking to a number of potential customers at Bell Bay about signing up to take gas.

Parsons said Powerco was confident the delivered gas price would be competitive with existing fuels and that natural gas would provide significant ongoing energy cost savings for customers.

Powerco's intention is to achieve a multiple network rollout with construction planned to be underway shortly in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport.

"Tenders are currently being processed for this major construction work and a construction timeline will be determined once the tenders are finalised," said Parsons.

New Plymouth-headquartered Powerco is New Zealand's largest gas distributor.