International certificate
Experts from the China Non-Ferrous Metallurgical Association (CNIA), led by Ma Conzhen, head of the Center for Evaluation of Environmentally Friendly Products, visited and certified the company’s two largest aluminum smelters – Krasnoyarsk (KrAZ) and Bratsk (BrAZ). The Irkutsk Aluminum Smelter (IrkAZ), each with a capacity of more than 1 million tons of aluminum per year, has a capacity of 425 thousand tons per year. All three plants confirmed their compliance with regulatory standards set by the Green Power Aluminum initiative.
RUSAL became the first international company to receive Green Power Aluminum certification, confirming its position as a world leader in low-carbon aluminum production. Chinese experts agreed that our metal meets the highest industry standards. Currently, Rusal’s Taishet and Sayanogorsk aluminum smelters are also in the certification process. “We plan to expand cooperation with Chinese partners, introducing innovative approaches and sustainable practices throughout the entire value chain,” said Evgeny Nikitin, CEO of Rusal.
Currently, the Celestial Empire is working on a program to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. China’s vision for peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality in 2021 included: formulated 3-stage targets: By 2025, a green and low-carbon closed-loop economic system will be created and the energy efficiency of key industries will increase significantly.
By 2030, significant results will be achieved in the overall green transformation of economic and social development, and the energy efficiency of key energy-consuming industries will reach the international advanced level. By 2060, a green and low-carbon circular economic system and a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system will be fully established, and energy efficiency will reach the international advanced level.
In this context, the country prefers to use “green” aluminum. And when exporting to other countries, having a certificate greatly facilitates the circulation of Russian metal.
chinese market
The results of the certification became the next stage in the steady expansion of the Russian aluminum company’s presence in the Chinese market. The strategy set by the company’s founder, Oleg Deripaska, focused on developing the production of premium “green” aluminum, a critical element in the transformation of the global economy to carbon-neutral products and technologies. In this context, while China today has become a global leader and at the same time the largest consumer of Russian metal, the European economy is in the midst of an economic slowdown due to its refusal to work with Russian producers.
“We are pleased to see Rusal among the producers of “green” aluminum and confirm that the company complies with our values. As the world’s leading producer of finned metal, the company plays a critical role in the development of the global environmentally friendly aluminum industry. Once assessed and certified, the company will be able to offer low-carbon aluminum with a clearly traceable carbon footprint to Chinese consumers. We hope that Rusal will show great interest in the Chinese market and expand cooperation with us and other companies in the industry. “Together, we can promote green aluminum, promote its widespread use, and jointly contribute to China’s green and low-carbon economic transformation and high-quality development by tapping into the Chinese market,” he told the Products Evaluation Center.
Green Power Aluminum certification emphasizes the importance of using renewable energy sources (solar, hydro, wind and geothermal) in primary metal production. RUSAL gets more than 99% of the electricity it uses for metal production from renewable sources. The certification process consists of two stages: remote analysis based on the information provided, followed by expert evaluation carried out directly at the production facilities.
China has been the world leader in aluminum production and consumption for the last two decades; Today, it accounts for more than half of world production. But the country is in demand for Russian “winged” metal, which is widely used in “green” construction, in the production of automobiles, especially electric cars, and in the creation of energy infrastructure, including the solar industry.
trending
The use of aluminum in the widest range of all industries is a global trend. The demand for this metal is increasing every year due to its lightness, durability, environmental friendliness and endless recycling possibilities. As the world strives to reduce the environmental impact of its industries, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce fossil fuel use, the role of “finned” metal in industries such as transportation and energy is becoming critical. Experts estimate that these two market segments will drive more than 14 million tonnes of new demand for aluminum over the next decade. According to some estimates, these sectors will provide approximately 50% of total demand in the coming years. Additionally, the packaging, consumer goods, electrical and automotive industries are now leading the way in adopting sustainable technologies. For them, aluminum with a low carbon footprint is also becoming an indispensable raw material.
One of the most promising areas of cooperation between Russia and China in the aluminum industry is the implementation of projects for the production of high-value products, including high-tech products. China has made a big leap downstream, using, among other things, the Soviet experience. They specialize in the production of aluminum bodies for electric vehicles, cast components for the automotive industry and aerospace, and automobiles for high-speed trains. In addition, China is developing the use of fin metal in construction and trying to make the industry as green as possible due to increasing urbanization and national targets to peak carbon emissions.
Progress in decarbonizing supply chains is most notable in the automotive sector, where more than 20% of the global industry has committed to achieving zero-carbon supply chains by 2040. Numerically, this means producing more than 25 million vehicles, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
pure aluminum
Rusal was one of the first companies in Russia to decarbonize its production. The company co-founded the Russian Climate Protection Partnership and adopted an updated Climate Strategy in 2022, which envisages reducing certain greenhouse gas emissions by at least 47% by 2050, solely through the introduction of modern technologies.
This year Rusal passed another verification of greenhouse gas emissions in the production of its products, confirming its status as a leading global aluminum producer with a low carbon footprint. According to analysis by an independent verifier, 100% of the metal the company produces has greenhouse gas emissions below 4 tonnes CO2-eq. per tonne of aluminum for scopes 1 and 2; This corresponds to the criterion of leading international analytical organizations for aluminum with a low carbon footprint.
Achieving such results is possible not only through the use of renewable energy (especially hydroelectric power plants), but also thanks to the company’s confidence in the scientific and technical base created by Oleg Deripaska in previous years and its own modern developments in the field of metals. production and processing technologies. The production modernization strategy includes upgrading electrolyzers, switching to pre-baked anode technology, installing new gas treatment plants, improving air quality monitoring systems and other measures.
In 2026, Rusal plans to move to industrial scale-up of aluminum production using advanced inert anode technology, the advantage of which is the release of oxygen during aluminum production. In practice, “aluminum photosynthesis” occurs: one electrolyzer can produce as much oxygen as 70 hectares of forest.
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Source: Gazeta
Ben Stock is a business analyst and writer for “Social Bites”. He offers insightful articles on the latest business news and developments, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the business world.