Global mining and metals producer Rio Tinto has awarded AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., Montreal, a seven-year engineering, procurement and construction management contract for the estimated $1.2-billion modernization of its 448-MW Isle-Maligne hydroelectric power plant in Alma, Quebec. The manufacturer says the upgrade of the nearly century-old facility will be the largest single investment in its hydroelectric assets since the 1950s. Rio Tinto is one of Canada’s largest private hydropower producers.

The project will involve replacing eight of the plant’s 12 turbine groups, contracted to GE Vernova, and upgrading water intakes and passages. Isle-Maligne powers five regional low-carbon aluminum smelters. The first turbine replacement will finish in 2026, with all completed by 2032. Plant architectural, structural, electrical and mechanical systems also will be upgraded, said Rio Tinto. 

The new project follows $183 million in previous turbine work. Rio Tinto has seven hydropower plants in Quebec and British Columbia. It also has spent $1.1 billion since 2023 to expand an aluminum smelter in Saguenay, Quebec, and install low-carbon smelting technology. The AtkinsRéalis and GE Vernova contract values were not disclosed.

The Isle-Maligne plant has been a Rio Tinto “strategic asset for 100 years,” said Sébastien Ross, managing director of its Atlantic aluminum operations. The investment will ensure long-term competitiveness of low-carbon production of aluminum cans and materials for vehicles and military aircraft in North America, he added. Despite Trump administration tariffs on Canadian aluminum imports, Rio Tinto expects $4 billion in global facility capital investment this year, said Bloomberg.