PERTH: Rio Tinto Alcan has announced a US$90 million (K264 million) investment in the modernisation of its Lochaber aluminium production plant in Scotland.
The modernisation project was scheduled to begin next year and should be completed by 2012.
It will involve the installation of new hydroelectric turbo-generators to power the smelter.
Rio Tinto Alcan primary metal president Jacynthe Cote said the investment not only secured the plant’s future but demonstrated the company’s commitment to improving energy efficiency, increasing the usage of fully renewable energy and in turn, its levels of production.
Ms Cote said 36% of the company’s smelter energy needs were met by self-generated hydroelectricity. – AAP