SIMEC ZEN Energy launches $1 billion 1 GW renewable energy plan for Australia

• 5 years ago (2018-08-15)
• David Flin

Australasia 51 Solar 242

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SIMEC ZEN Energy has launched a $1 billion 1 GW dispatchable renewable energy programme, consisting of a number of projects, including cogeneration at the Whyalla steel plant in South Australia. The first project in the programme is the 280 MW Cultana Solar Farm at Whyalla Liberty OneSteel steelworks, where construction will begin in early 2019.

Sanjeev Gupta, owner of SIMEC ZEN Energy, said: “Solar will be the main base of our ambitions in Australia, but we will have some wind, and we have lots of storage solutions. Together, that gives us the ability to offer dispatchable baseload power at prices cheaper than other forms of power.”

The Cultana Solar Farm will generate 600 GWh per year, and will consist of 780,000 solar panels over an area of 11 square kilometres, and would offset 492,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. SIMEC Zen Energy said that it will build a second solar power project near to the Cultana Solar Farm project. Gupta said that the new projects would increase supply reliability and reduce the cost of electricity.