WHO WE ARE / INVESTMENT
PROJECTS / CONSTRUCTION
OF AN ALUMINIUM SMELTER NEAR IRKUTSK
CONSTRUCTION OF AN ALUMINIUM SMELTER NEAR IRKUTSK
In 2006, RUSAL began early work to construct a 750,000 tonnes-per-annum
greenfield aluminium smelter in Taishet, a small town near Irkutsk. The
construction is expected to be completed in 2011.
This smelter will be equipped with the latest RA-400 cells designed by RUSAL’s
Engineering and Technology Centre (ETC).
The feasibility study for construction of the smelter was carried out by
Bechtel Corporation in conjunction with specialists from the Engineering &
Construction Division of UC RUSAL. The Taishet Aluminium Smelter will encompass
four reduction potrooms equipped with state-of-the-art RA-400 pots designed by
UC RUSAL's Engineering & Technology Centre.
The smelter will also include a cast house, an anode plant, a power house, gas
scrubbers, together with a full range of infrastructure facilities.
The construction site for this project is located in the western part of the
Irkutsk Region between Taishet and Talaya (small provincial towns) and is
distant from any residential area. It is now envisaged that the United Company
will build a railway to connect the smelter and Taishet.
Presently, both preparatory and building operations are performed on the
construction site.
Construction of temporary facilities has been practically completed; a concrete
mixing plant has been assembled and brought on line. The construction site is
being equipped with required materials, piles, reinforced concrete frames and
metal structures. Temporary and permanent roads and railway tracks are being
built both on the territory of the construction site and beyond. Installation
of internal and external water supply networks and sewer systems is currently
ongoing. Planning of the site is actively underway, with pre-assembly and
assembly activities on key facilities of the smelter already launched.
The project will cost over USD 2 bln, and after the full start-up of the
smelter, it will employ approximately 3,000 people. The Company intends to
commission no less than 150,000 square metres of living space. The average
annual tax proceeds from the smelter to the Irkutsk region and the Taishet
municipality will be over USD 55 mln from 2009 to 2013.
In March 2005, the Company completed public hearings and assessment of the
environmental impact of the Taishet Smelter construction. In February 2008, a
favourable conclusion was obtained from the Federal State Office of Russia's
Directorate for State Environmental Review, which allows the Company to start
full-scale construction.
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