On Thursday, February 1, Alcoa Corporation announced its aluminium supply deal with global cable producer Nexans. Alcoa will supply aluminium produced through its breakthrough ELYSIS process that eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting process.
Nexans will be the world’s first cable manufacturer to use aluminium produced from the ELYSIS technology. The technology uses proprietary materials, including inert anodes, first developed at the Alcoa Technical Centre near Pittsburgh.
Nexans facilities in Western Europe and Scandinavia will use ELYSIS technology-produced aluminium for their various types of cables, from low to medium to high voltage. Using ELYSIS aluminium will enable Nexans to reduce their carbon footprint across the cable range.
This latest deal further strengthens the historic long-term relationship between Alcoa and Nexans while highlighting Nexans’ commitment to the sustainable electrification of the world.
Alcoa also supplies EcoLum™ to Nexans. EcoLum™ is a primary aluminum produced with less than 4 tonnes of CO2e for every tonne of metal, promising a carbon footprint nearly three times lower than the industry average.
Vincent Dessale, Chief Operating Officer & Senior Executive Vice President at Nexans, said: “In the fight against climate change, solutions that support the world’s energy transition make a real difference. By increasing our use of low-carbon aluminum, we want to lead the way toward a sustainable electrification of the world: the rod produced with this breakthrough technology could eliminate a significant portion of carbon dioxide emissions in the future. We are proud to be the world’s first cable manufacturer to use metal from the breakthrough technology ELYSIS™.”
Renato Bacchi, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Alcoa, commented: “Alcoa is well positioned to supply low carbon aluminum for the world’s transition to renewable energy, as we know that the true impact of decarbonization will also include the choice of materials used to build the infrastructure for generation, transmission and distribution networks. While we are developing ELYSIS™ for the future, we are also supplying low-carbon aluminum today with our EcoLum™metal, which can help customers meet their own sustainability goals and lower their carbon footprints.”
Alcoa’s ELYSIS aluminium has also been used for the wheels on the Audi eTron GT, the automaker’s first electric sports car, and for Apple products.
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