Energy
Alcoa has emphasized energy efficiency from the very beginning. In 1900, it took more than 55 kilowatt hours (kWh) to make a kilogram of aluminum from alumina. Today, our best performing plants can produce the same quantity of primary aluminum using only 13.3 kWh.
Our smelting operations are the largest users of electric power within the company. As we pursue the modernization of our smelters, our power requirements will decrease. Our new smelters are up to 20% more efficient than our older facilities. Accordingly, the modernization of the Baie-Comeau Smelter, scheduled for completion in 2015, will result in substantial gains. We will continue to develop and deploy improved energy monitoring and management systems. Each time we acquire a new fixed asset represents an opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of our equipment and processes.
In Québec, an Energy Efficiency Committee has been set up at each smelter, and a regional committee gathers representatives from each plant to promote the exchange of best practices, from simple changes in work processes all the way to technology innovations. The work of these committees focuses on both electric energy and fuel consumption.
Alcoa Canada Global Primary Products has also adopted an energy efficiency policy. In 2008, Alcoa signed an agreement with Hydro-Québec to improve its energy efficiency. In addition, the Bécancour and Deschambault smelters have both been members of the Hydro-Québec Écolectrique network since 2008, a group made up of energy efficiency leaders among Québec corporations. In 2010, the Bécancour Smelter became the first company to achieve Elite membership within this network, thanks its cumulative energy efficiency gains of more than 250 gigawatt hours (GWh).
