THE COSTS OF THE ELECTRICAL ENERGY IN THE ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY

The economic crisis has given the opportunity to reconsider the use of resources, so the subject of competitive advantage has become actual. In the aluminium industry the cost of electrical energy is critical not only for competitive reasons but for the mere existence and performance of numerous production facilities . Several ways of resisting the pressure of high energy costs have been experimented the most promising being those based on different forms of public-private partnership/co-operation. In many countries the big industrial producers benefit from a special treatment concerning the energy acquisition and are supported by the government in order to remain competitive.