Alcoa, a manufacturer of bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products, will supply Nexans, a global cable producer, with aluminum produced through its ELYSIS process, which eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process.
According to Nexans, it will be the first cable manufacturer in the world to use metal from Alcoa’s ELYSIS process. The process uses proprietary materials, including inert anodes developed at the Alcoa Technical Center near Pittsburgh, and replaces all greenhouse gas emissions with oxygen.
The aluminum produced through the ELYSIS process will be used across several Nexans facilities in Western Europe and Scandinavia to start qualifications for the metal’s use in various types of cables from low to high voltage.
This announcement further builds on the companies’ existing partnership, where Alcoa has already supplied Nexans with EcoLum, a primary aluminum with a carbon footprint three times lower than the industry average.
Alcoa’s ELYSIS metal has also been utilized by Audi to produce wheels for its eTron GT electric sports car and by Apple for use in some of its products.
“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,” said Executive Vice President and CCO of Alcoa, Renato Bacchi.
