Latest news with #SamCrafter
Mercury
01-05-2025
- Business
- Mercury
Whyalla steelworks: Hydrogen boss Sam Crafter wins new job
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News. SA's highly paid Hydrogen SA office chief has won a significant new job as boss of 'a small team' overseeing Whyalla steelworks' transformation. Sam Crafter, one of the state's top paid bureaucrats on almost $600,000, was awarded the 'significant role' after his Hydrogen Power SA office and the Northern Water Delivery office were swallowed up by another department. A government spokesperson confirmed Mr Crafter would be employed on the same terms and conditions as his existing appointment. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia was scathing over the announcement claiming 'the government wasted over $100m of taxpayer money' on its failed flagship hydrogen jobs plan. The plan was shelved and its $593m funding switched to a bailout of Whyalla steelworks and mine after the state government pushed its former owner into administration earlier this year. 'That this government has now appointed Sam Crafter to lead the Whyalla Steelworks Industrial Transformation is farcical,' Mr Tarzia said. 'This is a man who has been paid $600,000 a year to oversee a now mothballed project.' The Advertiser reported in February that the number of staff in the Hydrogen SA office opened in 2022 had grown to 55, and a government spokesperson at the time said 'we anticipate staff costs of around $9m' this financial year. State Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis announced Mr Crafter's new role in parliament on Thursday saying 'the path to green steel is even closer than it's ever been before'. He said Whyalla steelworks and mine were 'the focus of the single biggest economic support and stimulus package in South Australian history', with its $2.4bn taxpayer-funded bailout. Mr Koutsantonis said the hydrogen power office had been 'heavily involved in fostering industry development' through hydrogen opportunities in the region. 'This goes beyond the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, a project which the government recently deferred pending discussions with the Whyalla steelworks' next owners as to how best the state can assist them to realise the vital transition to green iron and steel,' he said. Work being undertaken by the northern water delivery office to build a desalination plant in the Upper Spencer Gulf would now be taken over by the Energy and Mining Department and led by chief executive Paul Martyn. A decision about whether the northern water project would go ahead was expected within the next year, Mr Koutsantonis said. The government previously was questioned about the promised $593m for the bailout with the Opposition claiming significant funds were already spent, including on equipment for the now mothballed hydrogen plant. 'We expect the vast majority of capital already expended will be recouped when we agree terms with an alternative operator for the four 50MW turbines ordered for the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, with the stipulation that they be operated in SA to provide additional generation capacity,' Mr Koutsantonis said. Originally published as Hydrogen SA chief Sam Crafter wins new job overseeing Whyalla's 'steelworks transformation'
ABC News
01-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Hydrogen and water offices dissolved as SA government shifts duties to department
The South Australian government has denied a decision to dissolve a standalone office for hydrogen signals a lack of commitment to the fuel source over the long term — but the opposition says it shows the plan now lies "in tatters". The Office of Hydrogen Power South Australia was created to carry out the state government's pre-election promise to build a hydrogen power station and electrolyser near Whyalla. Photo shows A green sign for Hydrogen Power SA erected on a vacant arid site in Whyalla The SA government's plan to build a major hydrogen electrolyser and power plant near Whyalla has been scrapped, with the premier blaming the lack of progress on a plan for green steel at the local steelworks for the decision. But in a statement to parliament, Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the office would "cease to function" and that its responsibilities would be transferred to the Department for Energy and Mining. The Office of Northern Water Delivery, which has overseen plans for a 260-megalitre desalination plant on Eyre Peninsula, will similarly be discontinued and will also have its functions absorbed by the department. The Whyalla hydrogen plant was But the proposed hydrogen An artist's impression of the now shelved hydrogen proposal. ( YouTube: Energy and Mining SA ) But Mr Koutsantonis said the long-term need for a hydrogen production facility had not changed. "Ultimately, one day you will need to have a hydrogen facility to decarbonise steel," he said. "That'll depend entirely on who purchases the steelworks, what their time frames are for investment in direct iron reduction and [an] electric arc furnace." Photo shows An artist's impression of an overhead view of the proposed Whyalla hydrogen project. Four years after the South Australian government's bold and ambitious — but very much hypothetical — hydrogen power plant was first announced, there have been inauspicious developments concerning its future. The government previously came under fire for keeping the hydrogen office open, and retaining its head Sam Crafter on a salary of more than half a million dollars, even after it shelved plans for the hydrogen plant. Mr Koutsantonis told parliament Mr Crafter had now been moved to a new role. "Sam Crafter, who has led the Office of Hydrogen Power SA, has been appointed to this new role of State Lead, Whyalla Steelworks Industrial Transformation, operating within the Department for Energy and Mining," he said. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said the developments were proof that the government's hydrogen plan had "failed". "Today's scrapping of the Office of Hydrogen Power and the Office of Northern Water Delivery confirms what is a complete failure of the government's much hyped state prosperity plan and the breaking of a key election," he said. "The two major projects of the plan now, quite frankly, lie in tatters. "There's been an eye-watering amount of money, taxpayer dollars, wasted on this hydrogen hoax and also mismanagement of the Northern Water Project. This is now raising serious concerns." Desal plant 'relies on' BHP In February last year, the Mr Koutsantonis was adamant the decision to discontinue the Office of Northern Water Delivery indicated not a move away from that project, but an "acceleration" of it. Mr Koutsantonis says the government is pushing ahead with its desalination plant plan. ( ABC News: Che Chorley ) He said the government was now putting its mind to whether Mullaquana or Cape Hardy was the more suitable site. "The Office of Northern Water Delivery now has completed its task and that is now being put into the Department of Energy and Mining. We're moving onto the next stage, which are the negotiations with BHP," he said. "We've not reached final investment decision yet because it entirely relies on an agreement with BHP to purchase the water. "We're not going to build a desal plant and hope they buy it — we need a written agreement in place that they would purchase the water."
