A £60million plan to build or upgrade 12 hydro schemes in the Highlands by 2021 has been unveiled by the owner of the Fort William aluminium smelter, GFG Alliance.
The international energy and industrials group, headed by Sanjeev Gupta, announced the proposal yesterday as it completed the acquisition of Dingwall and Perth-based hydro power developer Green Highland Renewables.
GFG said some of the planned schemes would be on its 114,000-acre estate in Lochaber, where it is preparing to build an alloy motor wheels factory next to the smelter, creating 400 jobs.
The group described hydro as a “core element” of plans to expand its total UK green energy capacity for industry to one gigawatt over the next three years.
GFG added its newly acquired Scottish company, now known as SIMEC Green Highland Renewables (SIMEC GHR), was also likely to work on projects outside the UK, including a proposed scheme to build large-scale pumped storage hydro capacity in Australia.
Chief investment officer Jay Hambro said: “The SIMEC GHR team has an excellent reputation for planning, constructing and operating top-quality hydro schemes. They have delivered over 45 schemes and continue to operate 38 of these today.
“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 . . . and SIMEC GHR’s assets and expertise will enable GFG to play a leading role in delivering that additional capacity.”
SIMEC GHR 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.”
