Diversifying alumina supply chains in Gladstone, Queensland
Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corporation will build a first-of-a-kind hydrogen plant in Gladstone, Queensland, as part of a A$111.1m program aimed at lowering carbon emissions from the alumina refining process, it was announced yesterday. This came on the same day the Queensland Government formally announced $21.7m in funding for Alpha HPA Limited’s second stage of HPA First Project, a $300m-plus high-purity alumina (HPA) facility in Gladstone. The Rio Tinto-Sumitomo Yarwun Hydrogen Calcination Pilot Demonstration Program, where hydrated alumina is heated up to 1000 °C, received a $32.1m funding boost from the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific operations managing director Armando Torres says the pilot plant is an important step in testing whether hydrogen can…