Tiwai point smelter closure could affect south island hydro plants genesis 8 nov 2019 the national power grid would need costly investment if tiwai point aluminium smelter closes, but it could reduce new zealands reliance on fossil fuels, a report suggests. New zealands aluminium smelter location tiwai point. The facility, new zealands only aluminium smelter, is at tiwai point, near bluff. Southland new zealand activity highlights and fun things to do. The aluminium smelter at tiwai point in southland has been at the heart of. Tiwai point and the governments role in transition tvhe. Tiwai point, bluff, invercargill city, southland region, new zealand. May 25 businessdesk the economics of the tiwai point.
Its superb colour photos, by landscape photographer lloyd homer, are complemented by numerous black and white images, maps and diagrams. Photo by dianne mansongetty images who are rio tinto again. Only one other plant in the world comes close, that being an alcoa smelter in tennessee. Tiwai smelter deal signed between meridian energy and nzas. Tiwai point consumes 15% of the countries electricity and gets a reduced rate for its power. Books about the history of the province of southland and stewart island. Tiwai point aluminium smelter report wood mackenzie. Here in new zealand, one of the best examples of this is in regard to the tiwai point aluminium smelter people seem to be able to grasp that it employs nearly people but that is about where consensus stops and mythology starts to creep in. The future of the smelter hangs in the balance as rio looks to sell many of its.
Simon johnson argues that rio tinto alcan nz nz aluminium smelters ltd, the owner of the tiwai point aluminium smelter is godfathering the smelter, its workforce, the southland economy, the nz electricity market, meridan energy and the poor critically endangered slowbreeding kakapo, as well as godfathering the nz emissions trading scheme to get excessive free allocations of. Outlines the history of the tiwai point aluminium smelter. The history of the tiwai point aluminium smelter, powered by hydroelectricity from. The tiwai point aluminium smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by rio tinto group.
Smelting needs a lot of power it uses electricity equivalent to 776,000 households, or per cent of all the power used in new zealand. The smelter could not pass on the extra cost of its carbon emissions to its customers, rio tintos asiapacific president xiaoling liu said. A deal has been signed that allows aluminium production to continue at bluffs tiwai point smelter, meaning a huge sigh of relief for. Follow the concrete path to the reception area to the right of the security gatehouse. Tiwai point is new zealands only aluminium smelter. Tiwai point aluminium smelter nzas as seen from bluff hill. The smelter, located at tiwai point on the southern coast of the south island, was opened in 1971 after a joint venture construction 50% comalco, 25% sumitomo chemical company and 25% showa denko kk. Tiwai s highpurity output totals around 350,000 tonnes, or a bit over half of one percent of.
New zealand aluminium smelters nzas southland chamber of. When i joined nzas in 20 it is fair to say i walked into a challenge. However, there has been no update on a possible sale for some time amid speculation that no group has been willing to pay the right price. Cumberland walks through tiwai point aluminium smelter. The location is the site of an aluminium smelter, owned by rio tinto and the sumitono group as the new zealand aluminium smelters ltd. Decision on rio tintos tiwai point smelter and 800 jobs delayed source. Dr fox wasnt surprised at this latest announcement that tiwai wasnt making a profit and the big bosses were coming in from overseas to.
Tiwai point aluminium smelter concerned of linwood. Meridian has offered concessions to rio tinto nz herald. It is known for the tiwai point aluminium smelter, one of the largest industrial facilities in new zealand. It employs nearly people directly, and indirectly 3000 people in the region are reliant on this one industry, the 20th largest smelter in the world. Southland new zealand activity highlights, things to do in. After approx 7 km, take the left exit bend onto motu rimu road sweeping bend sign posted to tiwai after 0. Economics of tiwai point smelter still going backwards, woodwards kidd says. It is known for the tiwai point aluminium smelter, one of the largest industrial. Writedown of tiwai point aluminium smelter australian mining. Apr 21, 2015 tiwai point aluminium smelter squarely in the black.
Rio tintos dangling the potential closure of tiwai point. The plants owner, rio tinto, has been looking to sell tiwai point and other smelters for the best part of a decade but never found a buyer. The silver lining was that the south island wholesale power price could drop significantly. An energy sector analyst for woodward partners, john kidd, last month described the smelter as facing a deeply favourable cocktail of factors this year, including improved global prices, higher premiums for the tiwai point smelter s top quality output, low input costs because alumina costs had not risen at that time to reflect higher metal. Tiwai point aluminium smelter papua new guinea mine watch. Tiwai point smelter closure could affect south island. The sharemarket has been blindsided by the news that mining giant rio tinto is looking at shutting down the countrys biggest power consumer, the tiwai point aluminium smelter, less than a year. Tiwai point lies at the entrance to bluff harbour on the southern coast of the south island of new zealand. Tiwai point aluminium smelter, near bluff in southland. The aluminium smelter at tiwai point, near invercargill, is not expected to take advantage of a shutdown clause that has just become available to it, sources have told rnz. They own 79% the tiwai point aluminium smelter at the bottom of nz. Tiwai points owners have history of playing hardball otago.
Tiwai point smelter to close line otago daily times. We live in times where facts are regularly not verified before being broadcast to a wide audience. Globally, three quarters of aluminium is made with fossil fuels, mainly coal, and this would likely replace the product from tiwai. Nzs demand fluctuates, so without the smelter a fair amount of water would have to be spilled from. Oct 23, 2019 the mining giant has an almost 80 percent stake in the smelter with japans sumitomo chemical company holding the balance. New zealand threatens to sue rio tinto after floods.
Coromandel gold is a wellillustrated practical guide to of the historic goldfields of coromandel peninsula. One such executive is paul hemburrow, general manager of rio tintos aluminium smelter at tiwai point who, at only 38 years of age, has fasttracked to a toplevel management position he had his eye on years ago. It imports alumina and processes it into primary aluminium. But owners rio tinto are considering shutting the smelter down. Commissioned in 1971 it is operated by new zealand smelters ltd nzas. It is known for the tiwai point aluminium smelter, one of the largest industrial facilities in new. The tiwai smelter uses 12 per cent of new zealands electricity but it also accounts for 6. Smelting needs a lot of power it uses electricity equivalent to 776,000 households, or. Aluminium smelting requires a large and very reliable power source to continually supply electricity to reduction cells, and tiwai points proximity to the then. June 4 businessdesk the owner of new zealands sole aluminium smelter says it has delivered a.
Mar 29, 20 analysts said rio has a history of talking tough with governments and that new zealand would be no exception. Neville ritchie, a university of otago graduate, has been involved in archaeology since 1968 when he took part in salvage excavations on the site of the future tiwai point aluminium smelter. Can we replace the tiwai smelter with a data center. Tiwai point smelters annual net profit plummets scoop news. Tiwai point had been up for sale with a string of other plants around australia. Operators new zealands aluminium smelter nzas made the announcement yesterday, attributing the change to the introduction of safer operating practices to. Jun 04, 2019 tiwai point smelters annual net profit plummets amid volatile pricing. Tiwai point smelter s annual net profit plummets amid volatile pricing. There have been a lot of controversial pit stops in the smelter s 50 year history, with closures and job losses threatened many times.
The port of bluff, famous for its oysters, is at the end or start of state highway 1, and is another of nzs oldest european settlements. The tiwai point aluminium smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by rio tinto group 79. Tiwai point unlikely to close despite shutdown clause. A truly ambitious solution would keep jobs in southland, delivering on the promise of the zero carbon act to make nz all but carbon neutral by 2050, writes nicola gaston in a post coauthored with. Decision on rio tintos tiwai point smelter and 800 jobs. Operators new zealands aluminium smelter nzas made the announcement today, attributing the change to the introduction of safer. Future of tiwai point smelter up in the air rnz news.
Home, new zealands aluminium smelter, tiwai point, manapouri. And in new zealand that comes down to one thing in particular. Do both rio tinto and the government want tiwai smelter. Jan 24, 2018 the efforts to contain a fire near bluff, southland which burnt conservation wetlands and threatened power lines and operations at the aluminium smelter at tiwai point. Tiwai point aluminium smelter squarely in the black. Since they are coming up for partial sale, its an attractive prospect to have the manapouri generation capacity on the books for the float, as it will increase the sale price substantially. Tiwai is said to produce the cleanest and purest metal in the world. The future of the tiwai point aluminium smelter appears to have become a little more secure, with the rio tintocontrolled plant thought to be roughly breaking even, largely thanks to a lower new zealand dollar and the fact the price of alumina has fallen more than that of the finished product.
New zealands aluminium smelter nzas converts alumina into aluminium using renewable hydroelectricity. Our professional services have been called on several times over the long history of the tiwai point facility, during the initial construction and again when regular upgrades or extensions were required. Assesses the future of the tiwai point aluminium smelter in southland, which might close over the next few years as a consequence of increased electricity costs following the partial privatisation of the electricity sector and lower world prices for aluminium. World aluminium production exceeds 60 million tonnes annually.
Tiwai point smelter looks safe, despite global glut. This particular dross, when combined with water, can create dangerous clouds of ammonia gas, and. New zealands aluminium smelter nzas is new zealands only aluminium smelter and is located on tiwai peninsula, across the harbour from bluff in southland. Park in the visitors carpark on your right as you drive into the site. Examimes the prospect of the aluminium smelter closing down and its consequences to nz. But do listen in a few people have muttered, sometimes out loud, that one possibility for the apparently uneconomic tiwai point aluminium smelter is to switch it to become a data center. I was going to save this for nine to noon tomorrow, where im doing the technology segment, but things are moving fast. Jul 01, 2015 the tiwai point aluminium smelter will get an extra month to sort out its electricity needs under a deal with provider meridian. Owners of tiwai pt aluminium smelter seek talks with the. The wing roots of the airbus a380 are made from it. The dross got produced in the course of rio tintos aluminium smelting operation at tiwai point.
Sep 11, 2012 simon johnson argues that rio tinto alcan nz nz aluminium smelters ltd, the owner of the tiwai point aluminium smelter is godfathering the smelter, its workforce, the southland economy, the nz electricity market, meridan energy and the poor critically endangered slowbreeding kakapo, as well as godfathering the nz emissions. In 1977 he was appointed project archaeologist on the clutha power project, a position he held for 10 years until the completion of the project in 1987. While its news was met with cynicism by stakeholders, and the government ruled out giving it a subsidy, it was a bombshell nonetheless. The mining giant has an almost 80 percent stake in the smelter with japans sumitomo chemical company holding the balance. Indication of tiwai point value surety otago daily times. The tiwai point aluminium smelter will remain open, with meridian energy remaining its sole electricity supplier at an undisclosed but somewhat improved electricity price for about 30 percent of the smelter s total consumption. There have been a lot of controversial pit stops in the smelters 50 year history, with closures and job losses threatened many times. Stateowned electricity generator meridian which is also on the governments partial privatisation list said it was unlikely that a new supply agreement could be reached with rio to nz aluminium smelters nzas tiwai point smelter. The eventual closure of the tiwai point aluminium smelter is an inevitability that needs to be embraced. The plant, which employs about 990 staff and contractors, makes more than 340,000 tonnes of aluminium annually and is the countrys biggest electricity user. The potential closure of tiwai point aluminium smelter would translate to significant additional investment in transmission assets, genesis energy says. Dr fox wasnt surprised at this latest announcement that tiwai wasnt making a profit and the big bosses were coming in from overseas to have a look at the operation. From the time the three big stateowned power generators were partly privatised in 20, the possible closure of the tiwai point aluminium smelter was highlighted as a risk. Rio tinto stores the waste from its tiwai point aluminium smelter in a disused paper mill in the south island town, an hour away.
Details the latest negotiations between rio tinto, meridian energy and the government to enable the tiwai pt. And its possible the government would be happy to let this happen. The national power grid would need costly investment if tiwai point aluminium smelter closes, but it could reduce new zealands reliance on fossil fuels, a report by genesis energy suggests. Southland is has many special places for visitors to explore. Hemburrows first job with the global mining giant was with rio tinto alcan the companys aluminium group as a research engineer. The final design, construction and operation of the manapouri tiwai point electroindustrial complex, coming as it did at the end of some 65 years of government policy formulation, should have been a significant first step away from new zealands economic dependence upon the export of primary produce to the united kingdom.
Nor would it be competitive, until there was a global price on carbon emissions reflected in aluminium prices. Meridan have identified that they can make more money by selling the generation capacity to the public rather than the bulk discount to the smelter. Tiwai point aluminium smelter, bluff bonisch consultants. From bluff hill one can view the nearby tiwai point aluminium smelter tours available, the awarua wetlands and stewart island. Comalco later purchased showa denkos share in april 1986. Economics of tiwai point smelter still going backwards. New zealand threatens to sue rio tinto after floods threatened toxic. The tiwai point aluminium smelter is to shut down one of its lines this week in response to the covid19 crisis. A spit which extends from the western end of the awarua plain, it lies between awarua bay to the north and foveaux strait to the south. That waste is a class six hazardous substance, capable of generating poisonous ammonia gas when combined with water.
Nov 01, 2019 there have been a lot of controversial pit stops in the smelters 50 year history, with closures and job losses threatened many times. The eventual closure of the tiwai point aluminium smelter is an. Tiwai point smelter profit more than halves in 2016 nbr. Tiwai smelter to close one of four lines otago daily. A modest proposal for the future of the smelter at tiwai point.
456 590 1244 965 323 167 363 1464 715 1415 1006 297 93 520 704 473 1432 680 1264 1185 854 1462 1474 570 908 1100 154 958 1081 435 1423 1103 290 876 947 570 1015 39 873 82 941 1355 629 351