Aluminium and renewable energy company Hydro and Rio Tinto will join forces to identify and evaluate available carbon capture technologies for future implementation in the aluminium electrolysis process. The companies have signed a partnership agreement that provides for the sharing of certain information, results and costs covering specific R&D activities from lab tests with external suppliers to larger, on-site pilots, with the aim of creating improved offerings of commercially viable carbon capture technologies from relevant suppliers.

Together the partners expect to invest approximately USD 45 million over five years to support this initiative, with most of the work conducted at Hydro’s facilities in Norway and Rio Tinto’s facilities in Europe. Beyond this collaboration, both companies will continue to pursue substantial decarbonization efforts independently.

Anode consumption during the electrolysis process accounts for approximately three quarters of a smelter's direct CO2 emissions. For several years, scientists from Hydro and Rio Tinto have been exploring different carbon capture technologies as complementary solutions to help each company meet their climate targets, in addition to the development and scaling up of carbon free aluminium smelting technologies such as Hydro's HalZero technology and Rio Tinto’s participation in the ELYSIS joint venture.

Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state owns 34.3% of the company through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. A further 6.5% is owned by Folketrygdfond, which administers the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Norsk Hydro employs approximately 35,000 people. Eivind Kallevik has been the CEO since May, 2024, following Hilde Merete Aasheim. Rune Bjerke has been the Chairman since 2024 and Magnus Aakvaag serves as a strategic advisor.

“Hydro is accelerating our ambitious roadmap to achieve net-zero aluminium production by 2050 or sooner, advancing solutions across every step of our value chain, from mine to metal. Carbon capture technologies are critical to decarbonizing existing smelters. Our partnership with Rio Tinto will amplify efforts to develop fit for purpose solutions that can accelerate the aluminium industry's transition towards net-zero production,” says Hydro President and CEO Eivind Kallevik.

Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian multinational company that is the world's second largest metals and mining corporation. It was founded in 1873 when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government. It has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, it also has significant operations in refining, particularly the refining of bauxite and iron ore. It has joint head offices in London, England and Melbourne, Australia.

“Rio Tinto’s is committed to reaching net-zero emissions from our operations by 2050, and we know that achieving our climate objectives will require a portfolio of solutions. By working in partnership with Hydro to assess certain carbon capture technologies for aluminium smelters, we are finding better ways to leverage our complementary networks and R&D capabilities to address the climate change challenge,” says Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm.

Capturing carbon from aluminium smelter flue gas, with CO2 concentrations around 1 percent (vol.), requires adapting direct air capture technologies for higher concentrations or point source technologies for lower concentrations. In both cases, the current technology readiness level is low and requires significant development efforts to mature from laboratory to commercial scale. The collaboration between Hydro and Rio Tinto aims to speed up this development process to abate greenhouse gas emissions from smelters.

Source: Hydro

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