Wittbecker on Aluminum: Rio Tinto's power move

Rio Tinto is embarking on a major upgrade of the nearly century-old Isle-Maligne hydroelectric station in Quebec. A capital expenditure of CA$1.7 billion (US$1.2 billion) will be spent to secure low-carbon power for its aluminum smelters in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region.

The project is projected to take seven years to modernize one of Canada’s oldest hydropower assets to sustain what Rio-Tinto calls some of the world’s lowest-carbon aluminum production.