As part of his agenda in Pará, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, visited the Hydro Alunorte refinery facilities in Barcarena (PA) this Wednesday (28/02). The minister had the opportunity to see what the world's largest certified alumina refinery is doing to make its energy matrix more sustainable. Together with him, also participating in the visit were: the mayor of Barcarena, Renato Ogawa; the vice-mayor Cristina Vilaça; the state deputy Lu Ogawa; the president of the Port Company, Jardel Rodrigues da Silva; the president of the Barcarena Chamber, Windsor Kokinha; and the councilman Junior Ogawa. They visited the internal facilities prepared by Hydro Alunorte for the use of natural gas in the refinery. 

“Today, we had the opportunity to show minister Alexandre Silveira and some of the main authorities from Pará and Barcarena everything that Hydro Alunorte has been implementing to decarbonize its operations, reaffirming our commitment to sustainability and the ambition to produce greener aluminum,” says John Thuestad, Executive Vice President of Hydro Bauxite & Alumina.

On the same day of the delegation's visit to Hydro Alunorte, New Fortress Energy, the Government of Pará, and all the partners facilitating the arrival of natural gas in Pará, celebrated the arrival of the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit and the inauguration of the New Fortress Energy import terminal. With this milestone, Hydro Alunorte will begin alumina production using natural gas as an energy source, in line with the company’s commitment made to the State Government in the ICMS agreement, ensuring the longevity of the benefits of its operations to the society of Pará.

“We are registering a new energy era for the Northern region of Brazil. In addition to meeting the energy needs of the vast industrial and economic activities concentrated in this region, the terminal will also help bring cleaner and more sustainable energy to the Amazon River Basin. This initiative here in Barcarena makes the state of Pará one of the leaders in decarbonizing the country. It reflects a sector that we are structuring, ensuring efficiency and legal certainty to attract new investments," emphasized the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira.

With an approved investment of BRL 1.3 billion, Hydro Alunorte will be the first consumer of natural gas in the state of Pará. According to Anderson Baranov, Senior Vice President of External Relations at Hydro in South America, changing the energy matrix to the use of natural gas in its production process, in addition to contributing to the decarbonization of its operations, will be a catalyst for the implementation of gas distribution throughout the Pará region.

The project to replace heavy oil with the new fuel in refinery operations will result in an annual reduction of around 700 thousand tons of carbon emissions, equivalent to 30% of reduction in emissions of boilers and calciners. The project is one of Hydro's key decarbonization initiatives and a key enabler for Hydro's global ambition of 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030.

Hydro Alunorte's Energy Matrix Change

Hydro Alunorte is already one of the world's most energy-efficient refineries, ranking among the top 25% in low emissions efficiency, and the goal doesn't stop there. The refinery has developed an ambitious roadmap to contribute to Hydro's global vision of net zero emissions by 2050.

Hydro Alunorte also installed a new electric boiler in 2022, the largest available worldwide. Two more electric boilers are expected to come into operation this year. With all in operation, the project will represent a reduction of more than 400,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

The refinery is also investing in renewable sources and has signed two power purchase agreements for the consumption of solar energy from two Hydro Rein projects. One of them is the "Mendubim," a project that will generate about 531 megawatts (MW) of solar energy, and Hydro Alunorte will consume approximately 60% of the energy produced.

The other is "Ventos de São Zacarias," a combined wind and solar energy project that will generate 456 MW in the states of Piauí and Pernambuco and will be built in one of the largest wind farm clusters in Latin America. This way, Hydro Alunorte can continue to invest in the implementation of electric boilers in its operation, ensuring sources of renewable energy.

In addition to adopting natural gas as a substitute for fuel oil and the electric boilers and the future use of renewable energy, Hydro Alunorte is studying other energy sources for operations, such as the use of biomass from açaí pits, whose pulp is produced on a large scale in Pará. The use of this material for fuel generation could represent a sustainable destination for the waste so prevalent in the Metropolitan Region of Belém, generating a circular economy.