OREANDA-NEWS. On May 15, 2007 UC RUSAL, the world’s largest producer of aluminium and its alloys, and HydroOGK, Russia’s leader in the area of renewable energy, have begun construction of the Boguchanskiy Aluminium Smelter. The 600,000 tpa-strong smelter will be one of Russia’s five largest. Total investment in this project is expected to reach USD 2,3 bln, reported the press-centre of UC RUSAL.


The foundation stone for the smelter was laid today in the village of Tayozhny, Krasnoyarsk, in the presence of Alexander Khloponin, Governor of Krasnoyarsk, Anatoly Chubais, RAO UES Board Chairman, Oleg Deripaska, UC RUSAL Board member, Alexander Bulygin, UC RUSAL CEO, and Vyacheslav Sinyugin, HydroOGK Board Chairman. The Boguchanskiy Aluminium Smelter is being built as part of the Boguchanskoye Energy and Metal Complex project – a joint effort by UC RUSAL and HyrdoOGK. The project’s feasibility study was prepared by the All-Russia Aluminium and Magnesium Institute (VAMI), a subsidiary of UC RUSAL, and Bechtel, the international engineering company. The smelter will include a reduction area, a baked anode production plant, a casthouse and related auxiliary facilities. The smelter will be outfitted with RA-300 reduction cells, a UC RUSAL proprietary technology and one of the world’s most efficient and clean electrolysis technologies. Commissioning of the smelter is expected to take place in December 2009, with full capacity to be attained in the second quarter of 2011.


“The Boguchanskiy Aluminium Smelter is one of five facilities that the United Company is currently building in various regions of Russia. I am confident that the experience we gained in constructing our Khakas Aluminium Smelter will ensure success for this new project. It is symbolic that the Boguchanskiy Smelter’s foundation stone is being laid on the 75-year anniversary of the launch of the Volkhov Aluminium Smelter, Russia’s first. This marked the birth of aluminum production in Russia and is an auspicious day for our now world-leading industry”, said Alexander Bulygin, UC RUSAL CEO.


“I am pleased that HydroOGK is taking part in developing what will become the main consumer of energy generated by the Boguchanskaya HPP. This project will play a key role in unlocking the significant potential of the Lower Angara area”, noted Vyacheslav Sinyugin, HydroOGK Board Chairman. Investment into the project in 2007 will roughly amount to USD 195 mln and will include completion of 60% of earth works, as well as preparation of foundations for the reduction area and casthouse and installation of housing for the anticipated work crew. In addition to witnessing the laying of the smelter’s foundation stone, the delegation also visited the Boguchanskaya HPP construction site. Since work was restarted in December 2005 to complete the plant, the dam has been reinforced with 110,000 cubic metres of hydraulic and bituminous concrete, 2 mln cubic metres of earth works have been finished, and over 2,000 tonnes of supporting metal infrastructure has been installed. Basic equipment for the power plant has also been ordered from an array of leading Russian and global suppliers. In 2006, investment into the construction works amounted to approximately USD 192 mln, and this sum is expected to rise to USD 385 mln in 2007.

About the Boguchanskoye Energy and Metals Complex:

In May 2006, RUSAL and HydroOGK signed a cooperation agreement to jointly build the Boguchanskoye Energy and Metals Complex. The project is carried by the parties on a parity basis. The project has been initiated to complete construction of the 3,000 MW Boguchanskaya Hydropower Plant on the Angara River, and to build a greenfield 600,000 tonnes-per-annum aluminium smelter that will become the main consumer of the power plant’s electricity.  Stage 1 of the hydropower plant and the smelter will be commissioned in 2009. The project is a good example of cooperation and partnership between the Government and the private sector. The necessary infrastructure development in the region will be funded by the Russian Investment Fund in the amount of USD 1.3 bln in 2006-2009. The implementation of the project will be a key element of a Comprehensive Development Programme for the Lower Angara region, which also includes plans to build a pulp and paper mill, gas condensate and iron ore processing plants, and a rail and road network. The Boguchanskoye project will create 10,000 new jobs and will contribute additional funding in tax proceeds to local and regional budgets.