Rio Tinto and Sumitomo have agreed to build a 2.5MW hydrogen plant at the Yarwun alumina facility in Queensland, Australia, to lower CO2 emissions in the refining process.
The plant will be part of the A$111mn ($75mn) Yarwun Hydrogen Calcination Pilot Demonstration Program, partly funded by the Australian federal government's Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).
Sumitomo will own and operate the electrolyser at Yarwun, producing over 250 t/yr of hydrogen, cutting CO2 emissions by about 3,000 t/yr. If the entire operation were converted to green hydrogen, emissions would fall by 500,000 t/yr.
The pilot plant follows a joint Arena-Rio Tinto feasibility study in 2021 to investigate options for decarbonising the alumina sector.
Rio Tinto has three aluminium facilities in Queensland's Gladstone area, which require 1,140MW of electricity to operate. The firm aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 30pc from 2018 levels by 2030.
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