POWER-hungry aluminium is likely to get free permits for five years under the proposed emissions trading scheme.
Aluminium requires large amounts of electricity to smelt its ore, and was one of the industries identified as being under threat from the push to green.
For example, two aluminium smelters in NSW alone use around 7% of the state’s electricity production. Currently, the Kurri Kurri and Tomago plants get electricity at half-price.
However, if the aluminium smelters were to be closed, the impact would sweep through regional Australia and cost more than $1b.
Already, the five-year free permit is touted by some as a “lifeline”, although more detail will be revealed in October. Additionally, the ore mining might not be eligible for the permits.
The Greens warn the five-year reprieve is unlikely to help in the longer term, because the aluminium smelting industry would still be dependent on coal power after that. The solution, they claim, is to invest in more sustainable energy sources.
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