New Zealand Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai.
Photo: ekays/123RF
Contact Energy has signed an agreement with Rio Tinto to deliver the power necessary to restart the Line 4 potline at the New Zealand Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai.
The non-binding letter of intent for a power purchase agreement would support the restart of the idle Line 4 potline, to the three other production lines in operation.
The smelter act would become a long-term customer for Contact’s recently consented Southland Wind Farm, helping unlock new renewable generation and regional economic growth.
The smelter would become a long-term customer for Contact’s recently consented Southland Wind Farm, helping unlock new renewable generation and regional economic growth.
Line 4 at Tiwai Point had been idle since 2020, when Rio Tinto was still contemplating shutting down production at Tiwai entirely.
That dynamic was changed after Rio Tinto signed a long-term agreement to power the Tiwai aluminium smelter for another 20 years, which was expected to be a trigger for new long-term investment in renewable energy.
Restarting the restart the Line 4 potline would require about 50 MW of additional electricity and would deliver increased production and export earnings for New Zealand.
The commodity price for aluminium rose 6.3 percent in April on March, and was 51 percent up on the year earlier, after a large aluminium smelter in the United Arab Emirates was damaged in late March, tightening global supplies.
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