Chris Bowen, the Minister of Climate Change and Energy, did not lose time touring Port Augusta, South Australia, one of the major locations the Coalition had suggested for a nuclear power plant. But Bowen was there to highlight the green cement and green concrete facility that the Hallett Group had developed at the site of the former Playford power station, not to advocate for nuclear power.
Bowen and South African Minister for Energy and Mining Tom Koutsantonis were welcomed to the Hallett Green Cement Transformation Project, which is focused on a 6MW electrolyzer, by Hallett Group CEO Kane Salisbury. By entering into an arrangement with two Korean businesses to construct an electrolyzer at its cement facility in Port Augusta, in the mid-north of South Australia, The Hallett Group has increased its commitment to decarbonize cement production by double.
At the location of two abandoned coal-fired power plants in Port Augusta, Hallett signed a Statement of Cooperation with Elecseed, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and the South Australian government to construct a 6MW hydrogen electrolyzer. Hallett will also use slag from the Nyrstar multi-metals smelter in Port Pirie to make green cement.
Salisbury stated: “We’re going to dig out the old fly ash pan and take out 20 million tonnes of fly ash and turn it into a cement alternative. So, Hallett Group, we’re proud of this project that we’ve been working on for a long time – we think it will help decarbonize the industry here in South Australia and beyond.”
Bowen, fresh from announcing an agreement to fund the construction of solar and wind power to take SA to 100 percent renewables, praised Hallett for cutting emissions and creating green concrete. South Australia has secured federal funding to back solar PV and wind projects, aiming to become 100 percent renewably powered before 2030. This would be a historic development, as only hydro power-based jurisdictions have achieved 100 percent renewable power.
The state signed a final Renewable Energy Transformation Agreement to ensure the delivery of enough new renewable energy infrastructure to power every household in Adelaide, in return for dedicated federal funding support. Bowen said: “And that’s what this transition is all about – the site of an old coal-fired power station which employed numerous people but reached the end of its life several years ago, and now this whole precinct’s being transformed. Not just by you – by you and others into a renewable energy hub, a green cement hub, and a critical minerals hub. And this is what the future is about – real plans being delivered now that will be important in emissions reduction and jobs creation.”
“A fantasy of a nuclear plan in this area, which I dare say is a concrete plan compared to a fantasy plan,” was how Bowen described what was occurring. Hallett will process fly ash and leftovers from the Nyrstar Port Pirie multi-metals smelter into supplemental cementitious materials (SCMs), replacing over half of the conventional, highly CO2-emitting clinker-based cement.
Koutsantonis added: “This site where the Port Augusta power station once sat is now at capacity in terms of our renewable transmission lines to Adelaide. So the idea you can just plug in a nuclear power station here is folly. The real plans are the ones that Chris and I have to make sure that we continue to grow our renewable resources and continue to firm those renewable resources and store them.”…LEARN MORE
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