In Australia, Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corporation announced they will build an hydrogen plant in Gladstone as part of a $75.4 million program aimed at lowering carbon emissions from the alumina refining process.
The Yarwun Hydrogen Calcination Pilot Demonstration Program received the green light after a $22.4 million co-funding boost from the federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
The program is aimed at demonstrating the viability of using hydrogen in the calcination process, where hydrated alumina is heated to temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
It involves construction of a hydrogen plant at the refinery and the retrofit of refinery processing equipment. If successful, the program could pave the way for adoption of the technology at scale globally, the companies said.
Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific Operations Managing Director Armando Torres said: “This pilot plant is an important step in testing whether hydrogen can replace natural gas in Queensland alumina refineries.”
“At Rio Tinto we have put the energy transition at the heart of our business strategy, and this is one of the ways we’re working towards decarbonizing our operations,” he added.
The trial is expected to produce the equivalent of about 6,000 tons of alumina per year while reducing Yarwun’s carbon dioxide emissions by about 3,000 tons per year.
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