Veolia Environmental Services has proposed to develop up to 202 hectares of government-owned land at Gillman in northern Adelaide on a staged basis.
Veolia’s proposal will see it initially purchase 20 hectares of land at Gillman, with future options to purchase a further 182 hectares over a five year period.
The company was selected as the preferred proponents following an extensive EOI process.
The Veolia proposal features the development of an environmentally efficient logistics and employment precinct at Gillman, including Veolia’s new South Australian head office, a nation leading energy-from-waste facility and metropolitan Adelaide’s largest solar farm.
The proposed energy-from-waste plant will have the potential to generate up to 50 megawatts of energy using waste diverted from landfill.
The solar farm would be capable of generating 75 to 100 MW of power. This could be dispatched to tenants in the proposed industrial park through a micro grid and to the State’s major electricity grid and will be backed up by battery storage.
Veolia will also consolidate its existing South Australian operations to new headquarters at Gillman, to include offices, workshops, warehouses and depots immediately bringing over 450 employees to the site.
Veolia will develop eco-industrial allotments on 200 hectares, with interest already obtained for more than half the area from local and national businesses.
In addition, Veolia plans to create a research cluster and education site for sustainable cities, enabling Adelaide to become a world leader in this field.
The Gillman area has long been identified for its potential to generate investment and employment due to its size, proximity to Port Adelaide and nearby industries and ability to accommodate 24 hour industries.
Renewal SA owns approximately 407 hectares of land within an area across the suburbs of Gillman and Dry Creek. The land has recently been rezoned to accommodate a range of employment generating activities.
Veolia has more than 40 years’ experience in building and operating waste, energy and water infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand and is strongly established in South Australia.
It has invested more than $150 million in the state over the past two decades and employs 450 people across 13 sites in SA.
The company has access to an appropriate quantity and quality of clean fill from its Integrated Waste Services site at Dublin which can be used to improve the Gillman land and enable commercially viable industrial development at the site.
Housing and Urban Development Minister Stephen Mullighan said the Gillman land was a strategically important site with the potential to generate significant investment and employment due to its size, proximity to Port Adelaide and nearby industries, and its ability to accommodate 24-hour industries.
“Veolia’s vision to transform the Gillman land into a showcase site for waste management and renewable energy production and sustainable cities is a great opportunity for South Australia,” he said.
“It has the potential to generate hundreds of jobs during construction and thousands of ongoing jobs.”
“Veolia’s proposal is good for jobs, for renewable energy and for waste management and a win for South Australia as we continue leading the way in sustainable resource management and energy generation.”
Veolia Australia and New Zealand Executive General Manager (Western Central Australia and New Zealand) Laurie Kozlovic said the was a further commitment to the company’s ongoing investment in SA and to helping make the State a global leader in environmental best practice.
“We are looking to consolidate and modernise our operations into one efficient and centrally located headquarters, close to transport hubs and near our waste recovery facility at Wingfield, run with our subsidiary, Integrated Waste Services,” Mr Kozlovic said.
“Veolia has built more than 70 waste-to-energy plants around the world and the combustion process we will use for our plant at Gillman is efficient and clean, providing a reliable source of renewable energy.
“Our ability to fill the land at Gillman through our own resources means we have a cost-effective resolution to one of the land’s biggest development challenges.
“This will enable us to make parcels of land more attractive to third parties in the proposed industrial park as there will be a lower development risk for them,” he said.
“We have already received strong indications of interest from businesses that require sizeable parcels of land near transport and energy hubs, including those involved in transport, landscape supplies, food processing and food distribution.”