Local solar crew looks for Indian boost
Adelaide solar manufacturer Heliostat says new deals with one of India's largest power companies could bring hundreds of new jobs to South Australia.
Heliostat South Australia has secured memoranda of understanding with Indian firm Global Wind Power Limited, which will see the locals manufacture and develop new solar products.
Heliostat works largely with Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) systems, which use large arrays of mirrors to heat a central tower, from which electricity is generated.
Under the agreement, managers and engineers would operate from Adelaide while most of the labour work would be carried out in India.
But Heliostat still stands to win big, with the potential for orders of up to 120,000 of its reflectors for the project.
Heliostat executive chairman Darrin Spinks said in an interview with the ABC that s projects expand, the initial 150 local jobs could grow to as many as 1,000 positions.
“It's a large investment,” he said.
“You have to remember India itself has a make-in-India policy and that's really about making sure that they have jobs for India.”
He said it would not make sense to manufacture some items in Adelaide and then export them overseas.
Heliostat chief executive Jason May has embarked on a trade mission to India with SA Minister for Investment and Trade Martin Hamilton-Smith.
“This is the first step in the development of a one gigawatt solar projects portfolio in the solar rich regions of India — this amount of solar is enough energy to supply a city the size of Adelaide,” Mr May told reporters.
“This will secure long-term job prospects in both countries with a strong focus on employment in Adelaide and regional areas in South Australia.”
Heliostat is also working on forging ties with another Indian company, Gravita, which could see it to develop industrial CSP thermal application for metal recycling.