Capral Aluminium secured up to $3.45 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to support the upgrade of a log furnace at its Bremer Park extrusion facility in Queensland, Australia. The project is inline with the company’s ongoing focus on lower-emissions manufacturing.
“Support from ARENA helps make projects like this possible,” said Tony Dragicevich, managing director and CEO of Capral. “It allows us to invest in new technology, reduce emissions and continue to strengthen our manufacturing capability here in Australia. This is about making practical changes within our operations that deliver real outcomes, while ensuring we remain competitive as the market continues to shift toward lower-carbon solutions.”
ARENA’s National Industrial Transformation Program supports initiatives aimed at reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions across Australian industry. The program focuses on enabling the integration of clean energy technologies into existing operations, helping businesses transition while maintaining productivity.
With the ARENA funding, Capral will replace a 40-year-old gas-fired log furnace with a fully electric furnace system, introducing new technology designed to improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and strengthen operational performance. The project involves the installation of an electrically heated convection furnace, supported by induction heating technology and waste heat reticulation.
This new system is expected to lift energy efficiency from approximately 20% to more than 90%. In addition it will reduce Capral’s Scope 1 emissions by approximately 973 tonnes of CO₂-e per year, equating to around 9% of the company’s total Scope 1 emissions. Alongside emissions reduction, the project will deliver improvements in productivity, maintenance and process control, supporting more consistent manufacturing outcomes.
“This project is about improving how we operate at a fundamental level,” said Richard Axe, national extrusion business manager at Capral. “Moving from gas to an electric system allows us to reduce emissions, lower fuel costs, and improve reliability and output at the same time.”
The Bremer Park installation will also play an important role in shaping future investment decisions across Capral’s national manufacturing network. With a number of furnaces approaching the end of life over the coming decade, the learnings from this project will help inform further electrification opportunities.
Delivery of the furnace is expected within the next twelve months, with commissioning to occur in early 2027. Once operational, the project will demonstrate how electrification can be applied in high-temperature industrial processes, supporting both emissions reduction and long-term operational performance within Australian manufacturing. This will also enable Capral to support customers with lower-carbon aluminum solutions.