An Industrial System Powered by Wind and Coal for Aluminum Production: A Case Study of Technical Demonstration and Economic Feasibility

This paper presents a case study of an isolated industrial power system for aluminum production. The novel concept is that the cost of aluminum electrolysis can be significantly reduced by innovative application of hybrid systems incorporating wind energy and low-grade coal. In addition, the low-grade coal, which sale is not profitable in the market, can be locally consumed by the isolated power system. The power system thus fully utilizes the local resources in an effective and economic manner. However, several technical and economic issues are still of concern because the industrial system is isolated from the state grid. This paper hence discusses these issues and demonstrates the feasibility of such a hybrid power system from the technical and economic perspectives.