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SAGUENAY, Canada – Work to commercialize a process that produces carbon-free aluminium has reached another significant milestone with the completion of construction on the ELYSIS Industrial Research and Development Center in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec.
ELYSIS, a joint venture by Rio Tinto and Alcoa, is scaling up a breakthrough technology that eliminates all direct greenhouse gases from the aluminium smelting process, instead producing oxygen.
The completion of construction on the facility is the next step towards ramping up to industrial scale the breakthrough technology, first developed at the Alcoa Technical Center near Pittsburgh in the United States. The new center will produce metal at a scale similar to smaller, industrial-sized smelting cells that are in operation by some producers today.
Commissioning of the Industrial Research and Development Center, in a space leased at the Rio Tinto’s Complexe Jonquière, is now underway with full-scale research and development work to begin in the first half of 2021.
ELYSIS continues to work closely with Rio Tinto’s and Alcoa’s technology teams. The Rio Tinto technology team is leading scientific research and the development of the commercial scale designs for the ELYSISTM technology to be used in existing smelters and new smelters. The team at Alcoa’s Technical Center provides support to ELYSIS, especially in the manufacture of proprietary materials that are used to produce the new, proprietary anodes essential to the carbon-free process.
The new, 25-member operations team at the Industrial Research and Development Center will complete technical training over the next few months, along with equipment tests and commissioning activities for the full start-up.
The technology at a glance
Quotes
— “We look forward to seeing the ELYSIS technology scaled up for commercial use here in Québec, where Rio Tinto already makes some of the world’s lowest carbon aluminium using clean hydropower. ELYSIS is the next step to deliver zero carbon aluminium smelting for the industry and reduce the carbon footprint of items we use every day, from cars to smartphones and food and beverage packaging.”
- Alf Barrios, chief executive of Rio Tinto Aluminium
— “We’re proud to have reached this milestone with completing the Industrial Research and Development Center, despite the challenges of 2020 with the global pandemic. Commissioning the Centre will be a significant step forward for ELYSIS in its journey towards the large-scale commercialization of its technology. We are seeing strong results on metal purity and electrode durability as we continue to develop the ELYSIS technology, and are extremely encouraged by the interest in the market.”
- Vincent Christ, CEO of ELYSIS
— “The development of this new center signals an important step in progressing this technology to commercial scale, opening up new possibilities for aluminium producers to completely transform the traditional aluminium smelting process. It’s exciting to see Alcoa’s technology advance through this partnership, and I congratulate the team for reaching this milestone – they are carrying forward a spirit of innovation that aligns well with Alcoa’s history and our goal to advance sustainably.”
- Ben Kahrs, Executive Vice President of Alcoa
Notes to editors
ELYSIS is a technology company that was created thanks to a groundbreaking partnership between two global industry leaders – Alcoa and Rio Tinto. ELYSIS’ goal is to revolutionize the way aluminium is produced across the globe. Its process eliminates all direct greenhouse gases from aluminium smelting, and instead produces oxygen. Rio Tinto, Alcoa, the Government of Canada and the Government of Québec provided a combined investment of $188 million (CAD) to create ELYSIS and to see this technology reach commercial maturity in 2024. Learn more at www.elysis.com.
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media.enquiries@riotinto.comriotinto.comFollow @RioTinto on Twitter
Media Relations, United KingdomIlltud HarriM +44 7920 503 600
David OuthwaiteT +44 20 7781 1623M +44 7787 597 493
Media Relations, AmericasMatthew KlarT +1 514 608 4429
Media Relations, AsiaGrant DonaldT +65 6679 9290M +65 9722 6028
Media Relations, AustraliaJonathan RoseT +61 3 9283 3088M +61 447 028 913
Matt ChambersT +61 3 9283 3087M +61 433 525 739
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Investor Relations, United KingdomMenno SanderseT: +44 20 7781 1517M: +44 7825 195 178
David OvingtonT +44 20 7781 2051M +44 7920 010 978
Clare PeeverM: +44 7788 967 877
Investor Relations, AustraliaNatalie WorleyT +61 3 9283 3063M +61 409 210 462
Amar JambaaT +61 3 9283 3627M +61 472 865 948
Group Company SecretarySteve Allen
Rio Tinto plc6 St James’s SquareLondon SW1Y 4ADUnited KingdomT +44 20 7781 2000Registered in EnglandNo. 719885
Joint Company SecretaryTim Paine
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ABN 96 004 458 404
Category: Saguenay
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