Sue's Blog

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Aluminum = Packaged Energy - Why we fail to attract industry with superior power assets

Greenland prepares for an aluminum smelter and the thousands of long-term jobs associated with it. That's right Newfoundland and Labrador GREENLAND will get the smelter based on hydroelectric power. They will join Norway, Iceland, Russia, and Quebec to name a few - that use hydroelectric power to attract significant industry.What is the problem with Labrador? The only thing holding Labrador back is the government that is sitting at the Confederation building.

 When will we elect competent people - who then will employ competent people - to negotiate and attract energy hungry customers that set up shop in the jurisdictions where the power is located?

Below you will see a couple of slides from an assessment completed for Greenland on the viability of using their hydropower for an aluminum smelter.

In that assessment there was also a review of long-term contracts with hydro producing jurisdictions - and even though they were signed off in the 1960's - there was an escalator clause. Go figure - our geniuses missed that as well - they will tell you they could not have anticipated the value of hydro increasing so much. Then as with now - we are not using the best of our population to either sit as an elected member or to act as professional negotiators. WE ARE NOT USING VISIONARIES - WE ARE USING WEAK - IGNORANT PEOPLE WHO WILL SELL OFF OUR FUTURE YET AGAIN.

Funny enough - the opposition now is like the opposition when the Upper Churchill was developed - they shut their mouths and wait for the deal to be done. Stop this Legacy of Shame - get involved.

 
Summary - Demand

• Demand for primary aluminium is set to grow at 3.7% annually till 2030, driven by a strong
Chinese market.

• By 2020, Chinese intensity of aluminium use will match the level of the developed economies and
keep rising – it is estimated that by 2030, China will account for over 42% of global demand.

• Transportation will be the key sector for growth, with strong off-take in the automotive and
aerospace industries.

Summary – Energy & Power

• Power represents 26.8% of current business operating costs for smelters.

• Aluminium is essentially packaged energy.

• Power cost is the key competitive factor for an aluminium smelter.

• Power tariffs are particularly an issue in India and China, where costs are considerably higher than elsewhere due to soaring demand.

• Low power cost regions are becoming increasingly difficult to find

I wonder where our similar assessments are?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Some of our people , most actually due to necessity ,are very inventive and creative .

Yet, why is is that this province cannot grow a "politician" ,one that has innate leadership qualities , a visionary , someone who wants our people to prosper ,and who actually "loves" this province enough to see her flourish and take her place with the rest of the country ?

Is the attitude of our so called leaders "if you don't like what we are doing , just leave "?

That is how it was put to me actually . I get very frustrated with Randy Simms and what I perceive to be his obsession with politicians , it seems that every Tom , Dick and Harry if he is a politician is "HONOURABLE" .

I called Simms one day to discuss this very matter and instead of a debate of sorts (Randy likes to debate) I was told that [he] had fifteen dollars in his pocket and he would give it to me as a one-way ticket out of the province . I hit a nerve I guess . That would be some mean feat , (if it wasn't so tragic) , to get off this island for $15.00 .

With an attitude like that , and it is prevalant , how can we possibly come together in any form of cooperation and understanding ?

Edmund said...

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Wm. Murphy said...

Yet, why is is that this province cannot grow a "politician" ,one that has innate leadership qualities , a visionary , someone who wants our people to prosper ,and who actually "loves" this province enough to see her flourish and take her place with the rest of the country ?

Sounds like Danny to me!!

Sue Kelland-Dyer said...

Because I am not partisan - and truly love our province - I am willing to open my mind and try to understand what you are suggesting Wm.

How is it that sounds like Danny to you?

Unknown said...

@Murphy :

We had an old tomcat once that use to like to leave his "stench" on every pillar and post :-) .