G.A. Röders secures research funding for commitment towards climate protection

The foundry in the German town of Soltau, G.A. Röders has announced that it is pleased to be working with other climate-conscious companies to develop the first hydrogen-powered crucible melting furnace for aluminium.

Now, this aspiring project, costing a total of more than €3 million, is being supported by the Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection with funding of €1.5 million, while G.A. Röders will receive €140,000 of the amount.

Gerd and Andreas Röders, the two Managing Directors reported, “In addition, we as a foundry will ourselves invest around €150,000 to be able to operate even more energy- efficiently. With the hydrogen-powered furnace, we as G.A. Röders want to become pioneers in our industry for climate protection."

It has been also confirmed that within the scope of this project, Röders will thus invest a total of just under €300,000 in climate-friendly research.

The Institute for Welding Technology at the University of Braunschweig operates a branch office in Soltau with the Light Metal Center. Furthermore, to G.A. Röders and the University of Braunschweig, the companies Bohai TRIMET Automotive, ChemTrend, the data specialist Netco Professionals and Neo hydrogen Sensors as the manufacturer of the hydrogen burner are also involved. These companies are also investing over €1 million in the research project.

Apart from the development of the new hydrogen stove, all other energy consumption and the Co2 footprint will also be optimized with the help of artificial intelligence.

"For Röders, it is one of the most interesting research projects in recent years and we hope to no longer be dependent on gas in a few years," confirms Gerd Röders.

G.A.Röders is thus consistently pursuing the company's path towards sustainability, which it embarked upon some time ago. For more than two years now, G.A.Röders has been sourcing exclusively green electricity for its German sites. The company also pays a voluntary CO2 compensation levy for the gas, which is mainly used for melting aluminium, to produce in a largely climate-neutral manner. In this way, Gerd and Andreas Röders want to use their company to contribute to stopping climate change. The company's solar power system and certified energy management system also contributed.

Presently, the owners of G.A.Röders are considerably worried about the skyrocketing energy prices.

Andreas Röders said: "For our three sites in Germany and the Czech Republic, energy costs will increase by more than two million euros in 2022. It will be difficult to pass these additional costs on to our customers, as they are often large corporations in the automotive and aviation industries."

“The announced support for the energy-intensive industry in the transition from fossil to renewable energy is urgently needed. Otherwise, thousands of jobs and the associated know-how will disappear from Germany forever. For us, energy prices pose an even greater existential threat than the corona pandemic."

According to information from the WirtschaftsVereinigung Metalle, energy-intensive companies are already investing 18% less in new plants than would be necessary to at least maintain the industry. If this trend pursues, the production facilities will be living off their substance and they will be threatened with the abandonment of their respective company locations in the medium term.