ELYSIS selects Alma smelter for commercial size 450 kA inert anode prototype cells

$20 million CAD investment by the Government of Quebec to bring forward the start of work at the site

MONTREAL, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ELYSIS today announced it has selected the Alma smelter, operated by Rio Tinto in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, for the first installation and demonstration of its inert anode technology at a commercial size of 450 kiloamperes (kA), which is a common capacity for modern, full-scale smelters.

ELYSIS is a joint venture company, led by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, that is working to commercialize a new technology to make aluminum that eliminates all direct greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the traditional smelting process and instead produces oxygen.

As part of its technology development and scale-up, ELYSIS will install industrial inert anode prototype cells at the end of an existing potline at the Alma smelter to demonstrate the technology's effectiveness at a commercial scale in an industrial operating environment. This will build on ongoing work at the nearby ELYSIS Industrial Research and Development Centre, also located in the Saguenay region of Quebec.

ELYSIS plans to commercialise its breakthrough technology in 2024, for use in retrofitting existing smelters and installation in new facilities.

Investment by the Government of Quebec
The 450 kA cells at Alma will be supported by a $20 million CAD investment from the Government of Quebec to help bring forward the start of work at the site and to further strengthen the capability of manufacturing businesses in the region to supply specialized equipment required for the ELYSIS^TM technology.

The technology at a glance

• The ELYSIS^TM technology addresses the global trend towards producing low carbon footprint products, from mobile phones to cars, planes and building materials.
• The new process will reduce operating costs of aluminium smelters while increasing production capacity. It could be used in both new and existing aluminium smelters.
• In Canada alone, the ELYSIS^TM technology has the potential to reduce GHG emissions by 7 million tons, the equivalent of removing 1.8 million cars from the roads.
• ELYSIS will also sell next-generation anode and cathode materials, which will last more than 30 times longer than traditional components.

ELYSIS continues to work closely with Alcoa's Technical Center, where the zero-carbon smelting technology was invented, and the Rio Tinto technology design team in France.