Alcoa Unlikely to Build Smelter in North Iceland, Visir Reports

(Bloomberg)--Alcoa Inc.’s plans to build a smelter in Husavik, north Iceland, are unlikely to materialize, the Reykjavik-based news service Visir reported, citing Hordur Arnarsson, chief executive officer of Landsvirkjun, Iceland’s largest producer of electricity.

Landsvirkjun has signed a memorandum of understanding with Carbon Recycling International Ltd., which wants to build a methane factory in the area; that would leave Landsvirkjun unable to supply Alcoa with the power needed to build an aluminum smelter, Visir said.

“It’s clear that a 360,000-ton smelter, such as the one Alcoa has an environmental-impact assessment for, is unlikely to be built in the area,” Arnarsson told Visir.