The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in Southland will continue to operate until at least 2044 after striking a deal with Kiwi energy companies to supply renewable electricity until then. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS), which is owned by multinational mining group Rio Tinto, has often talked of closing due to low commodity prices and high electricity costs. In 2019, Rio Tinto announced a strategic review of the smelter after a year of losses and eventually decided it would halt operations in 2021. On Friday, the firm announced it had struck a deal for electricity supply to the smelter for the next 20 years, ending the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ drama for a generation. This price was “consistent with long-term electricity supply agreements” for large South Island industrial users and materially higher than in the transitional agreement, it said.

Source: Stuff May 31, 2024 11:34 UTC