Tiwai Aluminium Smelter Extension

DLA Piper have advised Contact Energy Limited (‘Contact’) in relation to its arrangements with Meridian Energy and New Zealand’s Aluminium Smelter (Tiwai).

As a result of the agreements reached, the smelter at Tiwai Point (New Zealand’s largest electricity user) will be extended until at least the end of 2024 while an economic transition for Southland is developed.

As part of the deal announced last week, Contact has agreed to supply Meridian Energy with a portion of the electricity required to power the Tiwai smelter. Contact will provide an average of 100 megawatts of baseload electricity through until the end of 2024 (assuming the smelter requires 572 megawatts of electricity).