Plans have been unveiled to invest nearly £60 million in Scotland's hydro-power sector.

Having complete its acquisition of Green Highland Renewables, one of the UK's leading hydro-power developers, the GFG Alliance is now ramping up its programme for green-energy based manufacturing growth.

Under its new name of SIMEC Green Highland Renewables (GHR), the organisation's team of designers, engineers and project managers – based at Perth and Dingwall – will work with GFG to develop hydro projects outside the UK, including a proposed scheme to build largescale pumped storage hydro capacity in South Australia, where GFG's largest steelworks is located.

In addition, the GHR's acquisition will trigger a programme to build or upgrade 12 hydro schemes in the Highlands by 2021. Some schemes will be developed on GFG's 114,000-acre estate where it plans to build a 400-worker alloy wheels factory next to its aluminium smelter at Fort William.

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Jay Hambro, GFG's Chief Investment Officer and Chief Executive of SIMEC Energy, said: "The SIMEC GHR team has an excellent reputation for planning, constructing and operating top-quality hydro schemes. They have delivered over 45 schemes and continue to operate 38 of these today. We are delighted the team is joining the SIMEC Energy family and it will be a valuable asset for the GFG Alliance and for our ambitions to become a major international producer of renewable energy for industry."

In addition to its hydro plans, SIMEC Energy is currently consulting with local communities in the Highlands on its proposal for an investment of around £150m in building a 164 MW wind farm at Glenshero. As Britain's first large-scale subsidy-free wind farm, a planning application for the development is due to be submitted this summer.

Ian Cartwright, GHR Operations Director said: "We're very excited about becoming part of the GFG Alliance as it will not only enable us to accelerate our existing plans but will give us opportunities to create new projects, both in the UK and further afield.

"Our team has a great track record for developing hydro projects and we're confident we can achieve even more by working within an ambitious organisation like GFG."

(LM/MH)