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Speaking of insanely good solar power potential in large parts of Australia: I am surprised that we have not seen huge solar farms setup to power aluminium smel
by throwaway2037 2mo ago
Speaking of insanely good solar power potential in large parts of Australia: I am surprised that we have not seen huge solar farms setup to power aluminium smelters. I guess that the economics still doesn't work. As I understand, all the cheapest places use hydroelectic as their power source.
- defrost 2mo agoNyrstar Port Pirie isn't 100% renewable, it should be now be recovering blast furnace heat as electricity to reduce demand and that demand is partly met by South Australia's renewable generation which covers the non industrial demand with excess left over for some industry. That aside (I'd be interested in further detail there) Rio Tinto is asserting the the largest aluminium smelter in Australia ( Tomago smelter near Newcastle ) will be 100% renewable energy within the decade: Australia’s largest aluminium smelter to run on renewables by 2033 after Rio Tinto strikes $2.5bn taxpayer bailout deal - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/13/rio-tinto-australia-tomago-aluminium-2bn-bailout-deal-renewable-energy https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/13/rio-tinto-a... Rio can be a bit performative in it's claims though; its battery electric haul pak "fleet" is over stated and they didn't do nearly as well at not blasting protected sites to smithereens as they pinky promised they would.