Latest news with #industrialdecarbonisation
Zawya
07-08-2025
- Business
- Zawya
EGA, ENEC deliver first aluminium produced with carbon-free nuclear energy
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) today announced the UAE's first delivery of low-carbon aluminium using electricity generated at Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. EGA is marketing this type of low-carbon aluminium under the product brand MinimAL. The metal will be supplied to CANEX Aluminum, Egypt's leading aluminium downstream producer. EGA's new product positions the UAE as a reliable supplier of low-carbon industrial materials to global markets and expands EGA's low-carbon metal portfolio for our local and global customers. Mohamed Al Hammadi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ENEC, said, 'This milestone shows how nuclear energy is boosting national energy security and enabling the UAE's industrial decarbonisation in parallel, reliably powering energy-intensive sectors like aluminium production with clean electricity 24/7. Through the abundant electricity generated at Barakah, we have unlocked the significant, proven and long-term benefits of nuclear energy to power the UAE's low-carbon economy for decades to come.' Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said, 'Global demand for low carbon aluminium is expected to triple by 2040, and EGA aims to play an important role in this growth. MinimAL is our latest low-carbon product, made possible through the UAE's investment in nuclear power generation. We are glad to be working with ENEC to supply more low carbon aluminium to the world.' Mutassem Daaboul, Managing Director of CANEX Aluminum, said, 'At CANEX, we believe true sustainability is built into every layer of production - from the raw material to the final product. Our upcycling model already transforms waste into value-added products. Now, with MinimAL, we are taking another step forward by reducing embedded emissions at the very beginning of our process.' The clean electricity is certified through the UAE's Clean Energy Certification programme using International REC Standard (I-REC) protocols to ensure traceability and credibility. The power is supplied through Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) via the national grid. The Barakah plant generates 40 terawatt-hours of clean electricity annually, which is around 25 per cent of the UAE's electricity needs, and equivalent to the annual total power demand of Switzerland. Carbon-free electricity from Barakah avoids 22.4 million tons of carbon emissions each year, equivalent to removing 4.8 million cars from the road. EGA was the first company globally to produce aluminium using solar power, with 80 thousand tonnes of CelestiAL made in 2024. EGA also produces recycled aluminium, marketed under the product brand RevivAL, at its plants in the United States and Germany. In the UAE, EGA is building the UAE's largest aluminium recycling plant at Al Taweelah. The facility is expected to start production in the first half of 2026.
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Metal industry group says new EU state aid rules fail to help
BRUSSELS, June 6 (Reuters) - European Commission plans to revamp state aid rules overlook heavy industry, critical to processing energy transition metals, as they fail to mitigate high energy costs while green rules could penalise them, a metals industry group said in a letter on Friday. The Commission is due to announce new state aid rules on June 26 after a public consultation on its February proposal. "While we are committed to industrial decarbonisation, a framework that is over-focused on this objective and fails to concurrently and robustly address the competitiveness of energy-intensive industries would be a critical error," industry group Eurometaux said in the letter. The group sent the letter this week to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the commissioners in charge of climate, industry, energy and competition. The new rules are part of the Commission's goal to revitalise Europe's flailing industries with its Clean Industrial Deal. The spike in energy costs over the last few years due to the loss of Russian natural gas has hit European industry hard. The share of energy has risen to 60% of total operational costs for some smelters versus 40% prior to the 2021-2022 energy crisis. The high costs make the sector increasingly uncompetitive at a time when the EU wants to reduce its over-dependence on third countries, namely China, for strategic materials key to clean tech and power grid infrastructure. U.S. rivals benefit from cheap gas and Chinese firms from massive state aid across the supply chain. "Measures substantially addressing our sectors' competitiveness are absent from the proposed framework. The adopted Clean Industry State Aid Framework must go beyond for immediate support to energy intensives, to cope with very high energy prices," the letter states. "There are currently no mechanisms helping electricity consumers switch to consuming low-carbon electricity sources." Heavy industry cannot fully take advantage of the bloc's rising renewable energy output due to location and daily variability, forcing them to rely on expensive fossil fuels. The draft rules could exclude companies from state benefits owing to their indirect electricity emissions. Further, the letter calls for the Commission to support the return of idled capacity such as Slovalco's aluminium smelter in Slovakia. "Failure to act will inevitably lead to a further loss of our industrial capacity," the group said in its letter.
