Plans for a 120MW battery storage project in South Australia could be in doubt— with a pre-election loan for the scheme awarded by the outgoing state government possibly under review by the new administration.
Former state premier Jay Weatherill approved the AUD10 million loan for the project by Australia’s ZEN Energy— part of the GFG Alliance business empire of British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta (pictured)— hours before Weatherill’s Labor Party lost power on 17 March to the opposition Liberals.
The loan was approved for release from the state’s Renewables Technology Fund.
However, BBB understands the deal could be called in for review by the new Liberal government— which had opposed Labor’s state energy policy.
A spokesperson for Gupta’s business interests in Australia told BBB the companies involved would not comment on the issue.
South Australia’s newly-appointed energy minister, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, did not respond to BBB’s request for comment.
If the project goes ahead, it would eclipse the 100MW battery Weatherill brought to the state last year in a deal with Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Weatherill trumpeted his record on energy policy just hours before his election defeat, telling journalists: “Here we are, ending this campaign, two billionaires duking it out about who’s going to have the biggest battery here in South Australia.”