Offshore wind could power Alcoa's Portland smelter in Australia

Alumina

07/12/2021 03:42

By Sonali Paul
    MELBOURNE, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Australia's Alinta Energy said
on Tuesday it is considering building a A$4 billion ($2.8
billion) offshore wind farm to supply Alcoa Inc's  AA.N 
Portland aluminium smelter and the country's east coast grid.
    The project is at a very early stage, with Alinta studying a
500 square kilometre area offshore where it sees potential to
tap a strong wind resource. It would need to complete
environmental studies, technology and cost studies as well as
seek government and community approvals before going ahead.
    "We think the wind farm would need to be around 1,000
megawatts to be viable," Alinta's head of project development
Kris Lynch said in a statement.
    Australia has no offshore wind farms, despite having
thousands of kilometres of coastline with strong wind resources.
There are more than 10 proposed offshore projects, with a
combined capacity of more than 25 gigawatts. 
    By comparison, as of 2020, there were 7.4 GW of onshore wind
farms with 4 GW of capacity due to start construction.
    The offshore industry could take off following Australia's
passage last month of long-awaited legislation setting a
framework for developing offshore wind farms, although
regulations flowing from the law still have to be worked out.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Q40D7
    If Alinta's Spinifex project went ahead, the Portland
smelter, run by Alcoa, could be powered by up to 100%
renewables, the companies said.
    "This proposal offers an ability to make a step change
impact to Portland Aluminium's carbon footprint," Portland
Aluminium Smelter Manager Ron Jorgensen said in a statement.
    The smelter, the biggest single-power user in the state of
Victoria, currently depends on coal-fired power and is looking
for ways to decarbonise. 
    The smelter received government aid and a cheap power deal
earlier this year to help it stay open for another five years.
    Alinta Energy is owned by private Hong Kong conglomerate
Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.
    
  ($1 = 1.4180 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
 ((Sonali.Paul@thomsonreuters.com; +61 407 119 523;))