Russian-owned alumina refinery in Limerick suspended from energy market

https://www.thejournal.ie/aughinish-alumina-energy-market-6772808-Jul2025/

by Bbrhuft

2 comments

  1. This move blocks the [Aughinish alumina refinery](https://alustory.international-aluminium.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/aughinish-alumina-refinery-ireland-332-scaled-1.jpg), the biggest alumina refinery in Europe, from selling and buying wholesale electricity. It uses 45 megawatts for refining, but its on site power station generates 160 MW, so it often sells more electricity than it buys. This threatens its economic viability.

    The plant was already loosing money because many European companies refuse to buy alumina from the plant over its Russian links. The plant is owned Russian metals giant EN+ Group (parent company is Rusal). Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties with Putin, is a major shareholder.

    The suspension was directed by an Italian court in a case taken against the plant by the [European Commodity Clearing AG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Commodity_Clearing), a subsidiary of the [European Energy Exchange](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Energy_Exchange). However, ECC ag was directed to bring the case by an unknown party, maybe another EU country. The court case is driven by support for Russian sanctions, the wish for them to be applied evenly in the EU. Several EU states have been lobbying Brussels for a full ban on all Russian linked aluminium due to the war.

    The suspension comes nearly 3 weeks after a bomb was found near the staff cafeteria. ECC might also be thinking that the Irish Government now feels that the Aughinish refinery is a liability. It had to deploy Police (Gardaí) to guard the plant, to prevent further bomb attacks.

    [BREAKING: ‘Viable bomb’ at Russian-owned Limerick site treated as potential war revenge attack](https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/crime-and-courts/1842780/breaking-viable-bomb-at-russian-owned-limerick-site-treated-as-potential-war-revenge-attack.html)

    The plant was temporarily suspended from the EU’s Greenhouse Gas cap and trade system in March 2022 in response to the Russian invasion.

  2. Fucking Rusal again.

    Swedes will know this company as the owner of our sole aluminium smelter, Kubal in Sundsvall.

    If we can use interest (or was it loans with that interest as security..?) off the frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine, we should also be able to force Rusal to sell their assets in the EU.

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