A facility that massive will require over 11 terawatt-hours of power, or enough electricity annually to power the city of Boston or Nashville, according to an Aluminum Association report.
America’s output of the versatile metal has sharply declined in recent decades, in large part owing to rising industrial electricity rates. Today, the country operates just four smelters — down from 33 in 1980 — and it imports about 85% of all the aluminum it needs each year. At the same time, the U.S. is using more aluminum in solar panels, power cables, infrastructure, and electronics. By 2035, U.S. demand for primary aluminum is expected to rise by as much as 40%, the advocacy group Industrious Labs said in a report last year.
Annie Sartor, Industrious Labs’ senior campaigns director, said that “two smelters would have been ideal” for boosting U.S. aluminum production. “One is better than none, but neither can succeed without affordable, clean power,” she said in a statement.
Construction on the Oklahoma smelter is set to start by the end of this year, the companies said. Negotiations are still underway with the Public Service Company of Oklahoma, which is a subsidiary of utility giant AEP, and the state of Oklahoma to secure a competitive, long-term power contract.
Last year, EGA signed a nonbinding agreement to build its proposed smelter with the office of Republican Gov. J. Kevin Stitt, a deal that includes over $275 million in incentives, including discounts for power. Oklahoma’s “energy abundance” was a key factor in selecting the state for the new aluminum smelter, Simon Buerk, EGA’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, previously told Canary Media.
More than 40% of Oklahoma’s annual electricity generation comes from wind turbines spinning on open prairies, while about half the state’s generation comes from fossil-gas power plants. Last summer, the Public Service Company acquired an existing 795-megawatt gas plant south of Tulsa to meet the rising energy needs of its customers, potentially including EGA.
Buerk said last year that the Oklahoma smelter’s annual power mix “will be based on EGA’s decarbonisation objectives, market dynamics, and market demand for low-carbon aluminum.” He didn’t immediately return Canary’s request for comment on Monday.
The news that Century Aluminum is investing in Oklahoma comes as a major letdown for some environmental and labor groups in Kentucky, who had advocated for bringing the project to their state. Century already owns two aging smelters in western Kentucky, and the new facility was supposed to create thousands of construction jobs and more than 1,000 permanent positions — jobs that will now go to Oklahoma.
“This is a disappointing loss for Kentucky, but it should serve as a wake-up call,” Lane Boldman, executive director at Kentucky Conservation Committee, said in a statement. “For Kentucky to remain an energy leader and meet the needs of industries looking for reliable and affordable power, it must modernize its energy infrastructure more quickly, such as grid modernization, energy storage, and diversifying with renewables.”
{
if ($event.target.classList.contains(‘hs-richtext’)) {
if ($event.target.textContent === ‘+ more options’) {
$event.target.remove();
open = true;
}
}
}”
>
Great Job Maria Gallucci & the Team @ Canary Media Source link for sharing this story.
