Is Tiwai Point smelter closing?
The future of Tiwai Point was in jeopardy in 2020 after Rio Tinto announced plans to shut the smelter down in 2021, citing expensive electricity costs. However, in 2021 it announced it had secured a cut-price power deal from Meridian and Contact Energy to keep it open for another four years.
What is happening with Tiwai Point?
The threatened Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will keep operating through to the end of December 2024, in a new deal just announced to the New Zealand stock exchange. Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto announced last year it was closing Tiwai due to high energy and transmission costs.
What has been proposed for Southland’s Tiwai Point aluminum smelter when it closes?
Hydrogen plant
As the closure of Bluff’s Tiwai Point aluminium smelter looms, Contact Energy and Meridian Energy are looking for partners to develop what they say could be the world’s largest green hydrogen plant.
Who supplies Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter?
Rio Tinto Group
The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited.
Why is the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point?
Aluminium smelting requires a large and very reliable power source to continually supply electricity to reduction cells, and Tiwai Point’s proximity to the then proposed Manapouri Power Station made it an attractive location.
How much electricity does the Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter use?
The plant uses about 15,000 MWh of electricity per day – the annual consumption of a thousand average households. It earns about $1.5 billion per year, mostly from sales in Japan and other parts of Asia. The smelter is expected to cease production in 2024.
How does an aluminium smelter work?
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.
Is Rio Tinto in NZ?
The smelter is located on Tiwai Peninsula in Southland and the majority of the plant’s alumina is supplied from our Yarwun operation and Queensland Alumina Limited refineries. Around 90% of the aluminium produced at NZAS is exported.
How much power does tiwai use?
What sort of agreement does Nzas have for electricity supply now?
In January 2021 Rio Tinto secured an electricity arrangement to enable NZAS to continue operating until December 2024. This extension provides certainty to employees, the local community, and customers while providing more time for all stakeholders to plan for the future.
How much electricity does tiwai use?
How many people work at the Tiwai smelter?
1000 people
In 2020, the smelter’s majority owner Rio Tinto announced it would wind down the Tiwai plant – which employs 1000 people and creates a further 1600 indirect jobs – by August 2021 due to high energy and transmission costs.
Who owns the Tiwai Point smelter?
Pacific Aluminium, the Rio Tinto subsidiary which owns the Tiwai Point smelter, has been withdrawn from sale.
What is Rio Tinto doing with Tiwai PT aluminium smelter waste?
Rio Tinto is taking over $4 million of taxpayer and council costs for getting rid of tonnes of toxic waste from Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter. That still leaves uncertainty around a $200m-plus clean-up of more toxic spent cell liner waste.
What’s happened to Southland’s Tiwai PT aluminium smelter?
Central to operations of debt-laden Rio Tinto’s loss-making and ageing Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter in Southland has been the roller-coaster ride of global aluminium prices – at present more than 40% down on the all-time 2008 high.
Is Tiwai Point aluminium plant’ongoing commercial competitiveness’?
Tiwai Point owner New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) has delivered a warning it is still scrutinising the plant’s ”ongoing commercial competitiveness”, as it considers appealing an Employment Court ruling against it.