FRANKFORT, Ky.– An aluminum company has selected northeastern Kentucky as the preferred location for a new aluminum smelter that would create about 1,000 permanent jobs in an Appalachian region hit hard by the loss of coal and steel production, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
Century Aluminum Co. Plans to build a smelter that produces dramatically lower emissions will be supported with $500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. The project has the potential to be the largest investment ever in eastern Kentucky, Beshear said.
“There are still many steps we need to take to make this a reality,” the governor said at a news conference. “But this is the first important step.”
The governor hopes a stimulus package from the state will help seal the deal. He predicted that state lawmakers will “provide the tools we need” in the final days of their terms.
The company’s president and CEO, Jesse Gary, was not at the news conference but said in a statement that there are still “numerous steps” to be resolved and that multiple locations are still being evaluated, but he pointed to the Northeast of Kentucky as the preferred location. Issues still pending include development costs for the sites in question, the cost of utilities, personnel and incentives, he said.
Century Aluminum, headquartered in Chicago, already has a significant presence in the Bluegrass State with two aluminum smelters in western Kentucky.
Gary referred to the announcement Monday as “another step in our ongoing long-term relationship with the state, and we look forward to the opportunity to be part of the growing commerce in eastern Kentucky, an outcome that is very attractive to Century Aluminium. “
Century says it is the largest producer of primary aluminum in the United States and also has production facilities in Iceland, the Netherlands and Jamaica.
Northeastern Kentucky was hit hard several years ago when a steel mill that had been an economic base for generations closed. The broader Eastern Kentucky region has suffered from the sharp decline in coal jobs over the past decade as demand for coal fell.
The hope for a huge aluminum factory in the region had already disappeared. Unity Aluminum, formerly known as Braidy Industries, planned to build an aluminum plant near Ashland in northeastern Kentucky, but the project — which was pushed by Beshear’s predecessor, former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin — never came to fruition because it company had difficulty recruiting sufficient staff. financing.
Now Beshear, who dethroned Bevin in 2019, is trying to accomplish what he says would be a game-changing project for the region and continue the record-breaking pace of economic development growth during the Democrat’s term. Beshear, seen as a rising star in his party, was re-elected last year to a second term in what would otherwise have been a Republican-dominated state.
The region’s renewed prospect of becoming home to an aluminum smelter presents an “incredible opportunity” for an area that has “gone through crisis,” said Boyd County Judge-Executive Eric Chaney, one of the area’s leaders who attended the press conference with Beshear. .
“We’re going to work hard to get this across the finish line,” Chaney said later in a telephone interview. “This is a great opportunity for northeastern Kentucky and the entire state.”
The project would create about 5,500 construction jobs and then about 1,000 permanent union jobs, the governor said. The new smelter would double the size of the current U.S. primary aluminum industry while avoiding an estimated 75% of the emissions of a traditional smelter thanks to its state-of-the-art, energy-efficient design and use of carbon-free energy, he said. .
The Department of Energy said in a separate press release that the new plant would be the cleanest and most efficient aluminum smelter in the world.
Aluminum produced by the new plant will support national defense, electric vehicle, semiconductor, building and construction and green energy applications, Beshear said.
While many decisions remain to be made, Beshear noted the importance of $500 million in federal support for the project. The funding is provided by DOE’s Industrial Demonstrations Program, and the governor thanked President Joe Biden, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and others.
“While we all recognize that this is not a done deal and that there is still more work to be done, a $500 million grant, if built in this region, is a pretty good starting point,” the governor said.
Last week, Beshear announced plans by Rye Development to build a $1.3 billion pumped storage hydroelectric power plant on a former coal mine in Bell County in southeastern Kentucky. The project – supported by a federal grant – will create approximately 1,500 construction jobs, 30 operations jobs and enough energy to power nearly 67,000 homes annually.
