AN international energy and industrials group has sealed the acquisition of a green energy developer and unveiled plans to invest a further £60 million in Scottish hydro-power.
GFG Alliance, led by Sanjeev Gupta, announced its intentions yesterday after completing its acquisition of Green Highland Renewables (GHR), one of the UK’s leading hydro-power developers.
It has been developing run-of-river hydro schemes since 2007, from initial concept through to consent, construction, commissioning and generation, and will now be known as SIMEC Green Highland Renewables (SIMEC GHR).
The announcement followed a recent meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, when GFG disclosed that it would double the £500m it had already invested in the Scottish economy.
Hydro power is a core element in its strategy to expand its total UK green energy capacity for industry to 1GW over the next three years.
The GHR acquisition will trigger a programme to build or upgrade 12 hydro schemes in the Highlands by 2021, some of which will be on GFG’s 114,000-acre estate where it also plans to build a 400-worker alloy wheels factory, next to its aluminium smelter at Fort William.
GFG is reviewing the possibility of offering ownership opportunities to local communities as part of its broader community involvement.
SIMEC GHR’s team of designers, engineers and project managers – based at Perth and Dingwall – is also likely to work with GFG to develop hydro projects outside the UK, including a proposed scheme to build large pumped storage hydro capacity in South Australia, where GFG’s largest steelworks is located.
Jay Hambro, GFG’s chief investment officer and chief executive of SIMEC Energy, said: “The SIMEC GHR team has an excellent reputation for planning, constructing and operating top-quality hydro schemes. They have delivered more than 45 schemes and continue to operate 38 of these today.
“We are delighted the team is joining the SIMEC Energy family and it will be a valuable asset for the GFG Alliance and for our ambitions to become a major international producer of renewable energy for industry. GFG has an ambitious target to create a gigawatt of renewable energy generation to power its vision for a long-term economically and environmentally sustainable future for British business.
“UK Government studies have identified the potential to double Britain’s existing hydro-power capacity over the coming years, and SIMEC GHR’s assets and expertise will enable GFG to play a leading role in delivering that additional capacity as part of our overall Green Steel and Green Aluminium strategy.”
GHR’s operations director Ian Cartwright added: “We’re very excited about becoming part of the GFG Alliance as it will not only enable us to accelerate our existing plans but will give us opportunities to create new projects, both in the UK and further afield.
“Our team has a great track record for developing hydro projects and we’re confident we can achieve even more by working within an ambitious organisation like GFG.”
SIMEC Energy is also in consultation with communities in the Highlands on its plans to invest around £150m building a wind farm at Glenshero, near Kingussie, designed to generate 164MW
of power.
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