Renewable energy for steelworks in Australia

Whyalla Steelworks (Source ABC News)

UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty OneSteel Group is the new owner of the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia. He plans to build 1 gigawatt (1,000MW) of dispatchable renewables in and around Whyalla, where his steel plant is located. This would comprise huge investments in solar, battery storage, pumped hydro and demand management. The renewable energy porject will knock 40 percent off his electricity costs.

Gupta is also looking to repeat the dose - although with varying mixes and scale of renewables and storage - to power the company’s steel operations in Melbourne and Sydney. He said he wanted these bigger plants to eventually be powered 100 per cent by renewable energy.

At Whyalla, the plans are to build a 200MW solar farm by early 2019; a 100MW/100MWh battery storage facility and a 100MW of demand response at the Whyalla steel works and other facilities by the end of 2019; and a pumped hydro storage facility at a disused iron ore mine pit by 2020.

The work will be carried out through Zen Energy, the Australia renewable and battery storage company in which Gupta’s Liberty group bought a majority stake soon after the Whyalla purchase.

For further reading: Whyalla steel city goes green with 1GW of solar and storage. RenewEconomy, October 30, 2017.
Also related: Gupta plans EV plant in Australia, powered by solar and storage. RenewEconomy, January 22, 2018.
Postscripts:
- Gupta signs up solar farm to power Victoria’s steelworks. RenewEconomy, May 2, 2018.
- Gupta doubles down on green industrial plans for Whyalla, powered by cheap renewables. RenewEconomy, December 10, 2018.