Romanian aluminum producer Alro has announced USD 15 million investments in the first five months of 2012 to increase the energy efficiency of its operations. “Alro has always put a strong emphasis on improving specific consumption, be it electricity, gas or other raw materials”, said Alro CEO Gheorghe Dobra (in picture).

The investments are part of a long term energy efficiency program that has seen over USD 77 million investments since 2005. Between 2003 and 2011, Alro reduced electricity consumption by 75 percent and gas consumption 80 percent in its processed aluminum division. Dobra added that the lower energy use per tonne of aluminum has partially offset increasing energy costs.

Alro is a subsidiary of Vimetco N.V., a global aluminum producer. The firm has an installed production capacity of 265,000 tonnes per year, making it the largest aluminum producer in Central and Eastern Europe when measured by volume.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com