Kwinana Alumina Refinery

Kwinana Alumina Refinery is a aluminium & non-ferrous metals facility operated by Alcoa of Australia Limited in WA. Like all covered facilities, aluminium smelting and refining is one of Australia's most electricity-intensive industries. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Kwinana Alumina Refinery must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Kwinana Alumina Refinery reported emissions of 915 kt against a baseline obligation of 825 kt — an overage of 91 kt. The facility covered the overage through a combination of ACCUs and SMCs.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not Kwinana Alumina Refinery specifically.

Across the aluminium & non-ferrous metals sector, 7 of 8 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares Kwinana Alumina Refinery with other aluminium & non-ferrous metals facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.