Rio Tinto invests to increase low-carbon AP60 aluminium production in Canada
November 17 2021 - 9:35AM
Business Wire
Rio Tinto is investing US$87 million to increase its low-carbon
aluminium production in Canada with 16 new smelting cells at its
AP60 smelter, in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec.
The investment will increase production at the smelter by around
45 per cent, or 26,500 metric tonnes of primary aluminium per year,
to a capacity of 86,500 metric tonnes and provide a secure future
for approximately 100 employees who work at the facility.
Rio Tinto projects that the global aluminium market will grow at
an average rate of 3.3% per annum over the next decade with strong
demand driven by the energy transition and decarbonisation.
Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Ivan Vella said: "Rio Tinto
is committed to strengthening its position as a leader in
low-carbon, hydro-powered aluminium production to meet the clear
demand from our customers in North America and Europe. Our AP60
technology is one of the most energy efficient, environmentally
friendly and cost effective systems in commercial production today.
It produces some of the world’s lowest carbon aluminium with
renewable hydropower here in Quebec. We are assessing options for
further investments, as we progress development of the ELYSIS™ zero
carbon smelting technology with our partners."
The new pots will be built in the existing building of the
Complexe Jonquière’s AP60 technology centre, which currently has 38
pots. Work will begin in the spring of 2022 and is expected to be
completed by the end of 2023. At the same time, Rio Tinto will
study the potential to add more AP60 cells at the site.
The AP60 technology was developed by Rio Tinto's research and
development teams, including the Arvida Research and Development
Centre, and generates seven times less greenhouse gases than the
industry average. Since their commissioning in Saguenay in 2013,
the initial AP60 technology pots have produced more than 465,000
tonnes of low-carbon aluminium.
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