What impact will the Upgrade have on greenhouse gas emissions?
Co-generation is more thermally efficient than other forms of power generation using fossil fuels, and so produces less greenhouse gas per unit of energy. Generating power close to a facility that can use the heat energy that normally goes to waste, in this case the Pinjarra alumina refinery, creates this efficiency. Alcoa will use the heat energy in the form of steam and Alinta will sell the power to third party customers. The overall greenhouse impact of the Alinta co-generation project can be expressed in terms of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the burning of gas in the gas turbine co-generation units, less emissions saved from the displacement of steam produced in the refinery boilers and from the reduced refinery steam demand as a result of more efficient utilisation of heat. Hence the annual net average CO2 emission from the cogeneration unit at Pinjarra is estimated to be 474,500 tonnes. Producing the same amount of power for the State from existing South-West Inte
