Canada Allocates CAD 193 Million to Support Upgrades at Two Aluminum Companies

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 23, the Government of Canada announced CAD 193.3 million in funding through the Strategic Response Fund to support Rio Tinto and Alouette Aluminum in upgrading their aluminum smelting and processing facilities in Quebec. The total investment in the related projects of the two companies amounts to CAD 953.5 million, of which Rio Tinto receives CAD 164.8 million and Alouette Aluminum receives CAD 28.5 million. The funds will be used for new aluminum billet casting facilities, retrofitting anode baking furnaces, and upgrading electrolysis production processes, involving multiple industrial facilities in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region and Sept-Îles.

Rio Tinto plans to implement an aluminum industry chain upgrade project in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region with a total investment of CAD 818.5 million. Among these, the Alma aluminum smelter will build a new aluminum billet casting center to expand production capacity for high-value-added aluminum processed products; the Grande-Baie aluminum smelter will modernize its anode baking furnaces, with the scope of work including major infrastructure upgrades and refurbishment of existing equipment to improve the operational reliability and production efficiency of the baking system.

The CAD 28.5 million received by Alouette Aluminum will be used for its electrolysis production optimization project with a total investment of CAD 135 million, focusing on two technical upgrades involving carbon anodes and electrolytic cell covering materials. The carbon anode project will adjust the anode material formulation and retrofit anode block production and handling equipment; the other project will optimize the particle size of the electrolytic cell covering material and adjust the thermal insulation conditions of the electrolytic cells. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2027 and are expected to reduce approximately 25,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions per year.

Alouette Aluminum's aluminum smelter in Sept-Îles, Quebec, produces approximately 633,000 tonnes of primary aluminum per year. The CAD 135 million project is an upgrade of existing electrolysis production facilities and does not involve adding primary aluminum capacity of equivalent scale. Part of the government funding is repayable in nature, and the project implementation scope focuses on production equipment adjustments, energy efficiency optimization, and emissions control.

The Government of Canada expects that the projects supported by the above investments will maintain approximately 6,000 full-time jobs and provide 65 cooperative education student internship positions. The two companies will each be responsible for implementing the upgrades at their respective facilities, and the project investments corresponding to government funding will be completed jointly with matching corporate contributions.