Billionaire Sanjeev Gupta to build 280MW solar farm in Australia

It is part of his project to build one of Australia’s largest solar farms.

South Australia will have a new 280MW solar farm as part of British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s global GFG Alliance US$1b, 1GW dispatchable renewable energy programme, The Lead reports.

Called the Cultana Solar Project, the farm will include 780,000 solar panels that can generate 600GWh every year. This could power 96,000 homes and offset 492,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. Construction is expected to begin in early 2019.

Gupta’s programme began when Liberty House bought Whyalla Steelworks from Arrium. GFG Alliance then bought a 50.1% stake in South Australia’s SIMEC ZEN Energy before announcing its 1GW bid in October 2017.

Gupta’s other projects in the Upper Spencer Gulf region, about 300km north of the South Australian capital Adelaide, are yet to be detailed but include cogeneration at GFG’s Whyalla Primary Steel plant using waste gas; the world’s largest lithium‐ion battery; and pumped hydro projects at GFG’s Middleback Ranges mining operations.

Gupta said the Cultana project – together with SIMEC ZEN’s second solar project to be built nearby – would combine to become one of Australia’s largest solar farms, with even larger projects to follow in other states.