Century Aluminum concludes Mt. Holly Aluminium smelter power contract, receives all necessary approvals

On 25^th March 2021, Century Aluminum of South Carolina (CASC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company announced that it has concluded and received all necessary approvals for, its new, three-year power contract with the South Carolina Public Service Authority, also known as Santee Cooper for the Mt. Holly aluminium smelter.

The contract will set in motion on 1^st April 2021 and run through December 2023. As announced in December 2020, the contract delivers a minimum of 290MW of electric power, allowing the smelter to increase its production by 50% (resulting in total production of 75% of Mt. Holly’s full capacity once the restart project is completed). Restart work at the Mt. Holly smelter is already underway and is on schedule to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021 in line with the Company’s previously issued comments.

Michael Bless, Century’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are thrilled to have reached final agreement on this new contract which, most importantly, allows us to immediately lift the WARN notice at Mt. Holly.  This milestone is welcome news for all of us, especially our Mt. Holly employees, their families and the surrounding community.  I want to personally thank our employees and their families for their patience, fortitude and focus during these challenging times, while we worked to get this new contract in place.  Simply put, the plant could not have survived without their hard work and perseverance.” 

“We have already begun the investment and onsite work necessary to expand our operations, including rebuilding cells and hiring new employees to add to the Mt. Holly team.  We all look forward to that day in the near future when the additional metal will be rolling out of the newly restarted potline.”

Jesse Gary, Century’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, stated: “We would also like to thank our colleagues at Santee Cooper for their commitment to finalizing our agreement. We look forward to building on the momentum and teamwork we’ve established, turning our attention now to creating a pathway to allow us to return the plant to full production. We would also like to recognize state leadership, especially Governor McMaster, Commerce Secretary Hitt and the legislative members of the Santee Cooper Oversight Committee, without whose dedication and support we could not have reached this important milestone.”

source https://www.alcircle.com/news/century-aluminum-concludes-mt-holly-aluminium-smelter-power-contract-receives-all-necessary-approvals-63837