Taishet Aluminium Smelter (TaAZ), RUSAL's first phase of what it claims is the world's most modern low-carbon aluminium manufacturing plant, opened in Siberia.
The state-of-the-art smelter claims to be one of the cleanest in the world, since it runs on clean energy from Siberian hydroelectric power plants, and has a low environmental effect thanks to advanced gas cleaning technology and a closed water circulation system. CO2 emissions from the entire project will be among the lowest in the industry. Verifications and testing for the pre-operation phase will begin today.
TaAZ is RUSAL's third low-carbon aluminium smelter, with a total cost of more than $1.69 billion and over 1,000 local jobs. The smelter is planned to produce 428.5 thousand tonnes of low-carbon aluminium per year in its first phase once fully operational, and it will play an important part in the town's overall social and economic development, with RUSAL completely dedicated to assisting local residents.
Taishet's low-carbon aluminium will be sold primarily in the extrusion and rolled goods categories, helping to fulfil the rising demand for low-carbon aluminium throughout the world. Approximately a quarter of the manufacturing will go to the Russian domestic market.
On the 17th of December, a ceremony was conducted in Taishet to commemorate the plant's inauguration, which was attended by Anatoly Seryshev, the Russian Federation's Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko, Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev, and RUSAL's General Director Evgenii Nikitin.
“The opening of our new low-carbon aluminium smelter in Taishet is an important milestone in RUSAL’s journey to decarbonization as we look to supply the world with low-carbon aluminium. Our aluminium will have one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry, helping to further strengthen our ties with customers who are leading the green revolution. Our smelter in Taishet will help to address the high global demand for low-carbon aluminium,” said Bernard Zonneveld, Chairman of the Board of Directors of RUSAL.
“Throughout the construction of the Taishet Aluminium Smelter, the most modern and environmentally friendly technologies that exist in the global aluminium industry were used, with technological processes almost 100% automated. We plan to replicate this model by building new low-carbon aluminium production plants on the site of facilities in Bratsk, Shelekhov, Krasnoyarsk and Novokuznetsk, as part of our sustainable modernization, bringing us a step closer to our Net Zero target in 2050,” said General Director of RUSAL, Evgenii Nikitin.
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