{"id":49455,"date":"2026-05-26T22:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/49455\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:56:12","slug":"rio-tinto-and-contact-plan-to-re-start-fourth-potline-at-tiwai-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/49455\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto and Contact plan to re-start fourth potline at T\u012bwai Point"},"content":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto and Contact said the restart would require about 50 megawatts (MW) of additional electricity and would deliver increased production and export earnings for New Zealand.<\/p>\n
The Southland Wind Farm \u2013 recently approved as part of the Government\u2019s fast-track process \u2013 is expected to generate more than 325MW of renewable electricity – enough to power 150,000 households.<\/p>\n
The combination of new generation and industrial demand is expected to deliver strong economic benefits for the region, the parties said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf restarted, Line four could add around $100 million in annual export revenue, and produce about 30,000 tonnes more aluminium per year, when the line is fully operational,\u201d Rio Tinto said.<\/p>\n
Armando Torres, managing director Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific Operations, said the agreement reflected a shared commitment to low-carbon growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Letter of Intent represents a practical step toward restarting Line 4 at Tiwai, strengthening New Zealand\u2019s position as a producer of low-carbon aluminium, supporting jobs, increasing exports, and contributing to a more resilient electricity system,\u201d Torres said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe aluminium produced by Tiwai is in high demand and is an essential part of the energy transition globally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle Henderson, NZAS general manager, said the restart of line four was a welcome further development, following the securing of long-term energy contracts for the smelter in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding on our existing electricity arrangements with Contact, we are pleased to have them partner on the potential restart of Line 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf approved, this increased production \u2013 targeted for 2030 with potential to be brought sooner \u2013 would bring more economic activity to Southland, further strengthening the local economy, and reinforcing Rio Tinto\u2019s commitment to Southland into the future,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n
Contact chief executive Mike Fuge said the partnership with Rio demonstrated how renewable energy investment could be accelerated by committed customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a credible baseload partner such as Rio Tinto is critical for bringing new renewable generation online.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis letter of intent helps underpin our Southland Wind Farm and shows how industry and renewable energy can work together to deliver long-term benefits for both Southland, and New Zealand,\u201d Fuge said.<\/p>\n
Ng\u0101i Tahu representative Terry Nicholas said the deal strengthened the tribe\u2019s partnership with Rio and Contact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis agreement strengthens our growing partnership with both Rio Tinto and Contact, ensuring that future industrial growth reinforces our commitment to environmental taurikura (prosperity) and community resilience,\u201d Nicholas said.<\/p>\n
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.<\/p>\n
Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our\u00a0Business newsletter<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto and Contact said the restart would require about 50 megawatts (MW) of additional electricity and would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20718],"tags":[24840,4312,24835,5315,1086,24839,234,23615,24838,6842,24837,24834,24833,21078,12991,24841,4425,22506,20549,24836],"class_list":["post-49455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rio-tinto","tag-aluminium","tag-and","tag-at","tag-contact","tag-deal","tag-done","tag-energy","tag-fourth","tag-have","tag-plan","tag-point","tag-potline","tag-restart","tag-rio","tag-rio-tinto","tag-smelter","tag-support","tag-tinto","tag-to","tag-twai"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116643350588635492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}