Port Augusta’s former Northern Power Station will be converted into a green cement facility
The South Australian government is backing a new project poised to turn Port Augusta into a national hub for the burgeoning green cement industry – an environmentally-friendly alternative to carbon-intensive cement.
The government will provide a $12 million loan to Hallett Group Pty Ltd to back the company as it progresses its $200 million Green Cement Transformation Project, which will repurpose the site of the former Northern Power Station into a cement plant.
When completed, the Green Cement Transformation Project will see two infrastructure hubs, at Port Augusta and Port Adelaide, where waste by-products from Port Augusta’s Northern Power station ash dam and the Nyrstar Port Pirie smelter can be re-purposed into green cement.
The new approach will use flyash from the Port Augusta legacy dam and the Nyrstar Port Pirie slag pile as ‘supplementary cementitious materials’ (SCMs) in the production of green cement.
SCMs are known to improve the long-term strength and durability of cement while reducing the carbon dioxide emissions of cement production by as much as 30 per cent.
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Once operational, the project is expected to stimulate other economic activities on the Upper Spencer Gulf including carbon dioxide reuse, synthetic fuels, mineral recovery and potential green lime manufacturing.
The federal government has also contributed a grant of $20 million to the project through the Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
“It’s appropriate that this initiative is based on the site of the former Northern Power Station, whose waste products will now play a key part in the industrial renewal of the Upper Spencer Gulf and the transition to a low-carbon economy,” SA premier Peter Malinauskas says.
“Coupled with green iron and steel in Whyalla, and critical metals in Port Pirie, this project is paving the way for huge opportunities for the Upper Spencer Gulf and South Australia.
“It will help South Australia meet its booming demand for building products used in homes, businesses and industry, while providing sovereign capability and supply chain resilience.
“SA is building – and the state needs to produce the materials to keep up the pace. This project will help realise that ambition, while reaffirming the Upper Spencer Gulf’s long-term prospects as a hub for energy and industry.”