Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter

Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter
Alcan Lynemouth Smelter in July 2008
General information
Type	Aluminium smelter
Location	Lynemouth, Northumberland, North East England
Inaugurated	1974
Cost	£54 million
Owner	Alcan

The Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter is a mothballed industrial facility near Ashington, Northumberland, on the coast of North East England, 0.65 mi (1.05 km) south of the village of Lynemouth. The smelter is owned by Canadian aluminium company Alcan, which is part of Rio Tinto. The smelter was opened in 1974 at a cost of £54 million. It ceased production in March 2012.

A variety of factors determined the smelter's position:

When work first started on the site local farmers were worried that pollution from the smelter would ruin their crops and harm their livestock. To address their concerns Alcan decided to buy the land from them. Alcan now own over 4,500 acres (18 km²) of land in the local area and employ a farming director. The land is still used to grow crops and raise livestock.

In early 2005 residents of nearby villages were worried about the fate of the smelter when the only remaining local coal mine situated at Ellington, closed. However the smelter did not close and imports its coal from overseas or from mines in other parts of the country.

The emissions of the power plant connected to the smelter were another concern for the environment. In April 2010, the European Court of Justice decided [1] that, in contrary to the claim of the UK Government, the power plant was subject to the emission limit values laid down in the 2001 Large Combustion Plant Directive. As a consequence, emissions of air polluting substances of the plant should now be reduced.

Production at the Lynemouth Smelter ended at 14:00 on 29 March 2012 [2], following a 90-day consultation period. It closed in May 2012 putting 515 people out of work and causing a knock on effect in its local supply chain. Alcan cited rising energy costs due to emerging European environmental legislation as the reason, however no mention was made of effects (if any) on their other European aluminium plants, in France and Iceland. Another reason given for closing Lynemouth is that it apparently does not meet Rio Tinto's criterion of 40% rate of return from its businesses, despite being one of the most efficient aluminium smelters in the world. The 420MW coal power station continues to operate under new ownership.