Local manufacturer Orrcon Steel has signed a deal to use 100 per cent Australian steel in the Sunshine State to make torque tubes for solar tracks that must bend to match the sun’s path.
Working with global energy firm Nextracker, the first consignment off the new production line will be used at the Aldoga solar farm to be built near Gladstone in Queensland.
Officially opening the plant on Thursday, Minister for Energy and Clean Economy Jobs Mick de Brenni said they were making the materials needed to support Queensland and the rest of the world move to a renewable energy future.
“This investment is proof that our renewable energy and emissions reduction policies are attracting some of the world’s largest manufacturers to the Sunshine State, securing good jobs for locals,” he said.
“Orrcon’s decision to invest in Queensland sends the message to other global companies: Queensland is ready, and open for business.”
Critical steel components will be produced from BlueScope’s steel coil at Orrcon Steel’s Salisbury Tube mill in Brisbane and finished at the Northgate site by Baojia, which is Nextracker’s global manufacturing partner.
“Orrcon Steel is one step closer to achieving our ambition to be a significant participant in Australia’s renewable energy supply chain,” general manager Tony Schreiber said.
The investment also includes a large tubular mill at Unanderra NSW, tooling to produce solar torque tubes and more warehouse capacity to support the supply of products for the rapidly expanding sector.
“The collaboration with Nextracker and Baojia is another example of how we’re making a difference in the utility scale solar industry with an Australian-made, high-quality product,” Mr Schreiber said.
Some 16 new jobs have been created to produce up to 50,000 tonnes of torque tubes to support the equivalent of more than 2.5 gigawatts of solar energy.
Nextracker’s solar tracker systems, in demand globally, have been used on some of the country’s largest projects, including the New England Solar Farm, the Stubbo project new Gulgong in NSW and Western Downs in Queensland.
This post was originally published on Michael West.
