Comalco's Bluff aluminium smelter cut aluminium production

Tuesday, Jun 10, 2008
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Cutting production at Comalco's Bluff aluminium smelter to save electricity in the current power supply situation is too simplistic a solution, the company says. While the Government refuses to recognise a looming power crisis, the Cabinet yesterday endorsed plans for a television and radio electricity savings campaign. Environmental Defence Society executive director Gary Taylor, said today the "answer to the dilemma" was to negotiate with Comalco -- one of the country's highest electricity users -- for a potline to be taken offline. "They use a lot of hydro electricity and that could be diverted into the grid and would probably see us through most contingencies," Mr Taylor told The Press newspaper. Mr Taylor said he would be talking to the smelter before lowering lake levels below their usual minimum levels, a proposal that has already been rejected by the Government. But New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Ltd general manager Paul Hemburrow (crrct) told NZPA today the smelter had seen the price signals and noted lake levels early in May before embarking on its own power savings strategies. "It's very simplistic," Mr Hemburrow said of the suggestion to remove a potline from production. "We've taken out a fair bit of our load and we did that starting from May 2." Savings of more than 10 percent had already been made by cutting an "enormous" 66mW of power use -- the equivalent of 600,000 homes reducing power by 10 percent. The smelter, in conjunction with power supplier Meridian, had also offered "instantaneous load reserves" back into the market, which Mr Hemburrow said had "the direct impact of reducing consumption of water in the hydro lakes". Potlines were not designed to be switched on and off and operated at their "most energy and emissions-efficient" when running with a stable raw materials and electricity supply. "When you take them out of circuit, it's very manually intensive. We can't just switch them on and off," Mr Hemburrow said. Dropping production by some 2900 tonnes a month was "very difficult" for the smelter, which wanted to retain its reputation as a "high-quality and reliable supplier". "If we took out more capacity, then potentially we would compromise that position," he said. Mr Hemburrow said he believed the smelter had already "done a hell of a lot" in contributing to current energy-savings initiatives. "I encourage other industrials to do what they can."

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