Hydro's Alumetal recycling plant in Kety, Poland, has announced their intention to increase the use of renewable energy to produce low-carbon, recycled aluminium products for the European green transition.
The solar panels being installed at Alumetal will generate 1,000 MWh of electricity each year and are expected to be in operation during second quarter 2025.
“Power is an important input factor for the aluminium industry, and switching to renewable energy is critical to decarbonise our value chain. Even if aluminium recycling only requires five percent of the energy used to produce primary metal in a smelter, every step matters to get to net-zero. The solar panels in Kety are yet another step in the right direction,” says Hanne Simensen, Executive Vice President in Hydro Aluminium Metal.
Image right: The aluminium Alumetal produces is called recycled foundry alloys (RFA). Alumetal’s plants use up to 94 percent recycled materials in the production of foundry alloys. The result for Alumetal’s recycled foundry alloy products is an average carbon footprint of 2.44 kg CO2e per kilo aluminium, less than one sixth of the global average in primary aluminium production, with most emissions coming from the upstream production of materials.
The EUR 870,000 investment will help the plant switch parts of its energy supply to local, self-generated renewable energy.
The investment also includes a modernisation of the plant’s main security and electrical energy measurement system.
When the plant does not use all the electricity produced, the extra energy will flow into the local power grid, providing nearby homes, businesses and other facilities with clean energy.
“The solar panels at Kety are another important milestone for Alumetal and a key step in our decarbonisation journey. The use of local, onsite energy production will increase energy efficiency, improve circularity at our plant and lower the carbon footprint of the final, recycled aluminium product we deliver to our customers,” says Agnieszka Drzyżdżyk, CEO of Alumetal.