Alunorf concludes wind energy supply contract with ENGIE
Neuss/Berlin, January 2022 – In 2022, Aluminum Norf GmbH (Alunorf) will obtain wind energy from five wind farms in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- Press release
- 25/02/2022
To this end, the Neuss-based industrial company has concluded an energy supply contract, a so-called Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), with the energy company ENGIE. Around 28 million kilowatt hours are called up depending on wind levels and the output of the systems. With this quantity, among other things, four induction furnaces for melting aluminum chips, which are mainly used for can material, can be fully operated. For the largest aluminum smelting and rolling mill in the world, the entry into wind energy is a further step in continuously reducing its carbon footprint.
“Producing aluminum as resource-efficiently as possible”
Alunorf wants to emit up to 30 percent less CO2 compared to 2015 by 2026 – and has also anchored this as a core goal in its corporate strategy. “Aluminum is an indispensable raw material for the energy and mobility transition. Light body parts and battery foils or components of wind turbines and photovoltaic systems are made from the primary material that is cast in Norf. We see it as our responsibility to produce the required aluminum as resource-efficiently as possible,” says Oliver Hommel, Commercial Director.
The decisive lever for this is recycling. Here, Alunorf has recently set important milestones with investments in an intelligent logistics and charging system (“Batch Intelligence System – BIS”) and a third recycling oven. “As an energy-intensive industrial company, we are also looking into alternatives in terms of power supply or gas as an energy source for ovens,” says Oliver Hommel.
“Preserving existing capacities for sustainable energy in the region”
Getting into the supply of wind energy now was an obvious choice for Alunorf: until recently, the wind farms in Krefeld, Viersen, Düren and Baesweiler were subsidized by the EEG (Renewable Energy Act). Since this has expired, the capacities were available. “It was important to us to rely on systems in the area in order to preserve the resources for green energy in the region,” says Oliver Hommel.
“The targeted delivery volume over a period of one year is very well suited to incorporating wind power into our existing portfolio at short notice. In 2022 we will examine how the product fits our needs and how supply fluctuations affect it. We will use this experience to develop a strategy for continuously and sustainably expanding the share of renewable energies in our electricity portfolio,” says Oliver Hommel.
“We are pleased that we can accompany Alunorf on the way to achieving their CO2 targets with a green electricity supply contract. Power Purchase Agreements are an excellent way to save CO2 from an environmental and economic point of view. As an energy-intensive and locally rooted production company, Alunorf has special needs that we, as energy managers, took into account when designing the PPA in order to find the best solution,” says Julia Schlafmann, Senior Originator at ENGIE.