World’s First Trial Sumitomo, Rio Tinto to Develop Hydrogen Pilot Plant for Lower Carbon Alumina Refining

Related Vendors

Sumitomo Corporation

Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH

EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

Sumitomo and Rio Tinto have plans to develop a hydrogen pilot plant at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia in order to conduct the world’s first trial of lower-carbon alumina refining. The project will also include the retrofitting of processing equipment at the refinery.

Tokyo/Japan – Sumitomo Corporation and Rio Tinto have agreed to build a pilot plant in Gladstone, Queensland to trial using hydrogen to replace natural gas in the alumina refining process.

Sumitomo Corporation and Rio Tinto have been proceeding with a study for the construction of a hydrogen pilot plant at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone under a partnership in Aug 2021. Sumitomo Corporation completed its front-end engineering and design study (Feed) in March 2022. The 111 million Australian dollar joint Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corporation Yarwun Hydrogen Calcination Pilot Demonstration Program is the first of its kind in the world to trial using hydrogen in the refinery calcination process. It will consist of a hydrogen plant at the refinery and retrofit of processing equipment and will be co-funded through a 32 million Australian dollar grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (hereinafter, Arena).

Sumitomo Corporation will own and operate a 2.5 MW electrolyzer at Yarwun alumina refinery and supply the hydrogen to one of Rio Tinto Yarwun’s calciners to operate with a hydrogen burner directly. The electrolyzer will have a production capacity of more than 250 tonnes of hydrogen annually. Construction will start in 2024 and the hydrogen plant and calciner are expected to be in operation by 2025. If successful, the project will demonstrate the viability of using hydrogen in the calcination process and could pave the way for adoption at scale across the industry worldwide.

Rio Tinto Aluminium Pacific Operations Managing Director, Armando Torres said, “This pilot plant is an important step in testing whether hydrogen can replace natural gas in Queensland alumina refineries. At Rio Tinto we have put the energy transition at the heart of our business strategy, and this is one of the ways we’re working towards decarbonizing our operations. We are proud to be developing this new technology here in Gladstone, in partnership with Sumitomo Corporation, and with support from Arena.”

Sumitomo Corporation Energy Innovation Initiative Director, Seiji Kitajima said, “We are excited to be delivering this hydrogen project together with Rio Tinto as our long-term partner with the support of Arena. Demonstrating real-world applications of hydrogen in industrial settings with motivated partners is essential to reducing carbon emissions and working toward our company’s vision of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Through this demonstration, Sumitomo Corporation aims to venture into the commercialization project to contribute to Rio Tinto’s decarbonization. Sumitomo Corporation is proud to be working on yet another hydrogen project in Australia and contributing to Australia’s own emission reductions goals.”

Sumitomo Corporation expects hydrogen to be one of the key energies of the future and promotes hydrogen related businesses such as local production and consumption projects and large-scale value chain projects. This is our first hydrogen production and supply project for which a final investment decision has been taken and will be the first step in a phased approach to commercialization, starting with a local production and consumption project, with the aim of constructing a large-scale value chain and exporting hydrogen in the future.

(ID:49614005)