Gupta follows through on $1 billion renewables promise

Steel industry titan Sanjeev Gupta has followed through with his billion dollar renewables promise with three massive projects coming to reality around Whyalla, in South Australia.

The owner of Liberty steel is forging ahead with a $600 million upgrade to the Whyalla steel works that will boost output to 1.8 million tonnes a year, as reported in @AuManufacturing news..

GFG Alliance has also contracted China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) to run a feasibility study into building a new steel plant in Whyalla capable of producing 10 million tonnes a year, almost double Australia’s current steel production.

But it is in energy that Gupta is at his most imaginative.

A company majority owned by Gupta, SIMAC won approval in May for the 280 MW Cultana solar PV farm in South Australia together with an associated battery storage facility.

Now SIMAC has won state government approval for the 100MW/100MWh Playford Utility Battery (PUB) project located in Port Augusta at the head of Spencer Gulf.

RenewEconomy reported that the battery, which is a key part of Gupta’s plan to develop 1GW of dispatchable renewable energy to free his steel works from rising energy prices.

This leaves only one of Gupta’s three renewables mega-projects to get off the ground.

This is a proposal for a major pumped hydro project near Whyalla located in a mined out iron ore mine.

The project is seeking support under the federal government’s Underwriting New Generation Investment initiative.

Picture: Zen Energy

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