South32 will begin seeking new pathways to reduce emissions at its Worsley Alumina refinery in Western Australia.
The initiative will be supported by $4.4 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), an independent agency that manages the country’s renewable energy programs.
The funding, awarded under ARENA’s $400 million industrial transformation stream, will support a pre-feasibility study exploring four steam electrification options.
Options include electric boilers that generate steam directly using an electrode, and mechanical vapour recompression, which involves capturing low-pressure waste vapour from the refining process for recompression to create pressurised steam for reuse.
These technologies have the potential to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, using renewable electricity.
South32 chief operating officer Vanessa Torres said the company has a long-term goal to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across all scopes by 2050, and a target to halve operational GHG emissions by 2035 from the 2020–21 financial year (FY21) baseline.
“Decarbonising our operations is key to achieving our goals and targets,” Torres said.
“The pre-feasibility study that we will undertake at Worsley Alumina, with funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, builds on the work already underway to reduce Worsley Alumina’s GHG emissions.
“Electrification of the steam generation process at Worsley Alumina’s refinery has the potential to further reduce the operation’s GHG emissions and we look forward to starting work on the project.”
The alumina refining sector is Australia’s largest user of industrial process heat, with steam production accounting for around 70 per cent of its emissions.
“Meeting Australia’s emissions reduction targets will require businesses in the most energy intensive industries to incorporate renewables in their operations,” ARENA chief executive officer Darren Miller Miller said.
“Funding from ARENA will help South32 investigate innovative electrification options for steam generation that enable the use of renewable energy.”
The study adds to ARENA’s growing low-emissions alumina portfolio, which includes providing funding to Alcoa to investigate and trial electric calcination, and to Rio Tinto to trial hydrogen calcination at its Yarwun refinery in Queensland.
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
