AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights
- Rio Tinto announced that it might extend its contract with NZAS.
- MEL said it was not in discussions with NZAS owners about the contract extension.
- Renewable energy stocks are generally moving up.
Rio Tinto sent a positive message to its workers and the region of Southland by signalling it hopes to remain at Tiwai Point beyond 2024, the Southland Chamber of Commerce says.
The murky future of the Tiwai Point aluminum smelter got murkier Wednesday as the smelter's majority owner Rio Tinto issued a statement saying it believed there was a pathway to keep the operation running beyond 2024.
In 2020, the mining giant threatened to close Tiwai Point over electricity costs.
Image source: © 2022 Kalkine Media®
Genesis Energy Limited (NZX:GNE)
In January this year, GNE announced the renaming of its 2047 Capital Bond as a Green Bond aligned to the Green Bond Principles 2021. Total green bonds on issue are NZ$325 million. This amount will be allocated to refinance renewable energy assets, including hydroelectricity and wind energy. The Company also announced that it had converted a further NZ$90 million of its revolving bank facilities with Bank of New Zealand and NZ$60 million with MUFG Bank Ltd to sustainability-linked loans.
Its sustainability targets include reductions across all types of emissions and ramping up sustainable energy generation.
Also Read: Genesis (NZX:GNE): How did it perform in FY22 Q2 period?
On 10 February, Genesis Energy was trading down by 0.52% at NZ$2.88, at the time of writing.
Contact Energy Limited (NZX: CEN)
CEN is an electricity and natural gas provider. In its latest update on the Tauhara project, it revealed an uptick in renewable electricity output and improved market conditions. However, it expected costs to increase.
CEN said that the development of new Tauhara geothermal power station near Taupō was progressing well and was expected to generate 168 megawatts against 152 megawatts as announced earlier.
The increased capacity is offset by the increase in costs, which are up by NZ$140 million at NZ$818 million from the initial estimate of NZ$678 million.
Also read: Contact Energy (NZX:CEN): What is it doing to address climate change?
On 10 February, the stock was trading by 0.85% at NZ$ 8.31, at the time of writing.
Meridian Energy Limited (NZX:MEL)
Meridian Energy which has a tie-up with New Zealand Aluminum smelter (NZAS) at Tiwai Point commented on the media coverage and said that it was not in discussions with the smelter’s owner, NZAS1, about a new electricity contract. As per the Company, the existing contract between MEL and NZAS ends on 31 December 2024.
On 1 February, it announced the sale of its Australian business to the alliance of Shell Energy Operations Pty Ltd. and Infrastructure Capital Group. The transaction was AU$740 million and would also consist of interest and inter-company funding movements since July 2021.
Related Read: What is Meridian Energy Limited’s (NZX:MEL) latest sale all about?
On 10 February, the stock was trading up by 0.20% at NZ$4.91, at the time of writing.
Bottom Line: While Rio Tinto talked about extending their contract with New Zealand Aluminum Smelter, Meridian, which had a tie-up with NZAS, said that it was not in discussions. However, overall energy companies did well today.
