DOE selects Century Aluminum for investment in new aluminum smelter

Century Aluminum Co. has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to begin award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminum smelter as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP).

With the aid of this funding, Century plans to build the first new primary aluminum smelter in the U.S. in 45 years. Upon completion, the smelter would double the size of the current U.S. primary aluminum industry.

RELATED: Century Aluminum to partner with MX Holdings on secondary billet production

The investment represents a major capital injection for the U.S. primary aluminum industry, Century says, adding that the project will strengthen domestic supply chains for materials critical for the green energy transition, including electric vehicles, renewable energy production and storage, building and construction and sustainable packaging.

“We are extremely proud that the DOE has selected Century’s green aluminum smelter project to receive such significant support, and we are excited to continue moving this transformational project forward,” Century CEO Jesse Gary says. “The project embodies a great many goals and aspirations shared by all our stakeholders, including providing a tremendous win for the domestic primary aluminum industry and the broader U.S. economy, strengthening domestic supply chains of critical materials, protecting our national security interests and building a more sustainable future for generations to come.”

The company expects to build the new smelter at a site within the Ohio/Mississippi River basins. It expects the project to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs represented by the United Steelworkers union and over 5,500 construction jobs. Century also plans to collaborate with job training organizations and local technical colleges to recruit and train employees from the local community where the smelter is located.

Century, a Chicago-based integrated producer of bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum products, says its green aluminum smelter project is one of 33 across more than 20 states to receive funding designed to demonstrate commercial-scale decarbonization solutions needed to move energy-intensive industries toward net-zero while strengthening local economies, creating and maintaining high-quality jobs and slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

RELATED: Aluminum production increases, while GHG emissions intensity decreases

The company operates facilities in Hawesville and Sebree, Kentucky; Mt. Holly, South Carolina; and Grundartangi, Iceland. In addition to its primary aluminum assets, the company owns a carbon anode production facility in Vlissingen, Netherlands.