Portland Aluminium Smelter

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

In 2023–24, Portland Aluminium Smelter reported emissions of 621 kt against a baseline obligation of 549 kt — an overage of 71 kt. The facility covered the 71 kt overage by purchasing 71,495 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

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 Portland Aluminium Smelter 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 Portland Aluminium Smelter with other aluminium & non-ferrous metals facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.