Renewable energy demand powers growth

Courier Mail
Tuesday 20/3/2007 Page: 26

RPG Australia is on an aggressive growth path as it cements its position as a major steel processor making water pipes and now wind farm towers. The Wacol-based private company with 250 staff and $100 million plus turnover has just won a $20 million contract to manufacture 42 wind towers for a wind farm in Snowtown, South Australia.

The company has invested $20 million to acquire a manufacturing facility in Adelaide, plus a spiral mill, and both plants will be involved in the manufacture of the wind towers. These massive steel structures are 80m tall, as high as the Gabba light towers, and the company can build two of them in a week. All up the company is building 90 towers to meet its various orders, with current work in the pipeline until March 2008.

Barry Cox, managing director of RPG Australia, says this is a first for Queensland. "Part of our business makes large diameter steel pipes, which is the water infrastructure and we've just committed to a big spiral steel mill to position our self to be able to offer a similar product to Tyco," he says.

RPG Australia is one of the largest integrated steel processing companies in the country supplying steel infrastructure components for the water, road, rail, mining, defence, agriculture and general fabrication markets across Australia.

"Wind farming is here to stay and we took the strategic decision to position ourselves for growth in the renewable energy sector some time ago we're looking forward to manufacturing the first wind towers in Queensland.

"Adding wind tower manufacturing capability to our business has paid off earlier than we expected," Mr Cox says. "The infrastructure boom has brought record demand for steel products, and being able to offer an integrated service has been, and continues to be, a strong competitive advantage. "There is unprecedented demand from the infrastructure and mining sectors, and we need extra capacity to keep up with demand.

"We're building coal truck bodies for the mines in Western Australia and we've just finished a massive dam pipe project for NSW - the demand is coming from all over Australia." RPG has provided steel components for major projects including the Comalco Alumina Refinery, Dalrymple Bay piles for its expansion, Gladstone piling and head stocks, bridge construction for the Alice Springs to Darwin rail line, the Melbourne Cricket Ground upgrade and the Port Kembla Wharf expansion project.