Elkem ASA

We are pleased to announce that Elkem has received €1.8 million in EU funding as part of the Horizon Europe project MECALO, to explore CO2-free silicon production through our Elkem Sicalo® project. This initiative aims to eliminate all CO2 emissions from silicon production, exemplifying our commitment to achieving #NetZero in our own production as well as facilitating the #GreenTransition. The MECALO project, which has been awarded a total of €9.9 million, will further develop the carbon looping concept for general metal production, demonstrating CO2-free production of silicon and manganese alloys. This project involves collaboration with Eramet Norway, a leading manganese alloy producer, and has the potential to save 33 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually by 2050 if fully implemented in all silicon and manganese production across Europe. We have been working on Elkem Sicalo® with SINTEF as our research partner since 2021, with support from The Research Council of Norway Norges forskningsråd and Enova SF. Together with SINTEF and NORCE Norwegian Research Centre, we are now completing the first pilot phase at Elkem Technology Park in Kristiansand, Norway. Yesterday we hosted a visit to celebrate the funding and showcase the project's progress. In collaboration with our partners, we are also initiating the second phase of the project with extensive pilot testing of various stages of the production process, also with support from Enova SF. Thank you to our guests for their visit and support: Oddmund L. Hoel, Minister of Research and Higher Education, Helge Aasen, CEO, Elkem, Eli Aamot, EVP, SINTEF Industri, Bjørn Kolbjørnsen of Eramet, Håvard Moe, SVP Technology, Elkem, Aasgeir Valderhaug, Director R&D, Elkem, Halvor Dalaker, Senior Researcher, SINTEF and Trygve Veisdal Hanssen, Director, Elkem R&D Technical Center, John Vigrestad and Tor Borgar Hansen from the Research Council and Ståle Kvernrød from Enova. Read more about Elkem Sicalo® and MECALO here: https://lnkd.in/gethPeah

Since our beginning as an industrial start-up back in 1904, Elkem has been all about innovation 💡 “We must always look for new opportunities. We are never satisfied, we can always be better,” Elkem’s head of technology Håvard Moe tells Teknisk Ukeblad in an interview. This means prioritising innovation and ambitious R&D projects such as Sicalo, which aims to eliminate all CO2 emissions from silicon production, and supporting innovative entrepreneurship 🤝 Our recent partnership with Startuplab allows us to pursue the goal Elkem has had for over 100 years: to renew and improve ourselves, adapt to market needs and find more climate-friendly and efficient products and solutions 🌍 🔗 Read more about how we work with innovation and tech start-ups, such as the ones in Startuplab, for continuous inspiration and improvement: https://bit.ly/3Z9OPZ4 (in Norwegian)

This week, Norway's Minister of Energy Terje Aasland visited one of the world’s most energy-efficient smelters: Elkem’s Thamshavn plant, located near Trondheim, Norway. 🏭 Thamshavn was one of the first smelters in the world to implement an energy recovery system. Today, the plant gets about 1/3 of its electricity consumed from waste heat generated during the production process. What better setting to discuss framework conditions for Norwegian power-intensive industry? ⚡ Elkem plant manager Sondre Valle Hestvik and union representative Thomas Eggan highlighted the importance of maintaining competitive electricity prices for industry by ensuring that any increase in power consumption is preceded by additional renewable energy production, such as onshore wind. 💨 This will ensure that world-leading smelters such as Thamshavn can keep providing the silicon the world needs to drive the green and digital transition. 🌱 Pictured: Aasmund Lie, Orkland Municipality, Thomas Eggan, Union Representative Elkem, Terje Aasland, Minister of Energy, Sondre Valle Hestvik, plant manager, Jan Haugen, Labor Party and LO, Hanne Nyhus, Mayor Orkland Labor Party

Today we're excited to announce the successful scaling of our chemical silicone waste upcycling project from a laboratory to pilot unit at our Saint-Fons production site in Lyon, France ♻ As part of our commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, we are dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions and resource use. This innovative pilot unit will enable the recycling of silicones, reducing their carbon footprint, securing critical raw materials and leading to the safe and energy-efficient recycling of silicones at an industrial scale. Key benefits: ✅ Lower carbon emissions with low process temperatures 🧪 High conversion rates and chemical selectivity ♻ Reduced generation of undesirable by-products Through this project, we're driving the transition towards a circular economy for silicones and paving the way for a more sustainable future 🤝 We're proud to have worked with CP2M (Catalysis, Polymerisation, Processes and Materials) and IMP Laboratory academic labs, and the SMEs ACTIVATION conjuguer Chimie et Technologies pour réduire l'empreinte environnementale des procédés and Processium. This project is supported by the #France2030 national innovation and industry investment programme, operated by ADEME, and the European Union’s #NextGenerationEU fund. Read the full announcement here: https://bit.ly/4eDi1gV #NetZero #Circularity #GreenTransition

This week is International Week of Science and Peace, highlighting the importance of science, research and collaboration in fostering peace and sustainable development 🕊️ Since climate change is a growing driver of conflict and inequality, it's more important than ever for companies to engage in sustainable business practices that contribute to limiting global warming 🌱 Through our research and innovation in energy efficiency, CO₂ emission reduction, circular economy, new materials and digitalisation, we’re supplying and leading the transition to a greener, more peaceful world 🌎 The journey towards #NetZero is a collaborative one, which is why we're involved in over 30 projects across Norway and Europe with enterprises, clusters, academic institutions and startups: 🏭 Our Sicalo project with SINTEF is testing a groundbreaking concept to capture and recycle carbon in the production process to eliminate nearly all direct CO2 emissions from silicon production. 𓇢 Our BioSiMS project with SINTEF, University of Agder (UiA) and Future Materials - Norwegian Catapult Centre promotes the use of biocarbon in silicon production instead of fossil carbon. ♻ Our SisAl Pilot with an international consortium, notably including Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), SINTEF, WACKER, Norsk Hydro and BNW-ENERGY, aims to demonstrate a new industrial process to produce silicon with low environmental impact, using secondary raw materials such as aluminium scrap and dross. We’re proud to be at the forefront of collaborative innovation - together, we’re building a more resilient and sustainable world 🔬 #WorldScienceDay #ScienceForPeace #SustainableDevelopment

⚙ As the world enters an artificial intelligence revolution, questions arise about its use in industrial processes. How can AI enable more efficient and climate-friendly methods of production? How can we use it to lead innovation? What type of AI does the industry need to solve its biggest challenges? Spoiler alert: it’s not ChatGPT, says Solveig Steinsland, Elkem’s head of process digitalisation. Last week, she spoke about digitalisation in industry at SINTEF Digital’s Digital Future event with Sølve Eidnes, a senior researcher at the institute. The payoffs of integrating AI into industrial processes are high, says Solveig, including 🔌 improved energy efficiency 🏭 increased production of materials critical to the green transition 🌱 lowered emissions But the risks are high, too. In complex processes such as silicon production, where smelting furnaces can reach 2000 degrees, errors could lead to more emissions, power grid disturbances, or even danger to life and health. One of the biggest challenges AI poses for process industry is the lack of sufficient, accurate data. 🤝 Developing models that are precise and effective is a critical task - one that can be streamlined and improved by collaboration. Through the GreenBox project, for example, Elkem ASA, SINTEF and other industry and research partners have joined forces to develop new technologies enabling the capture of data and advanced process controls, with the goal of spearheading the green and digital factories of the future in the process industry. As outlined in the #Draghi report, when we embrace cooperations like this across research, academia and industry, we can translate research results and technology development faster into industrial and economic development 💡 You can read more about how Elkem ASA and SINTEF work on AI in this opinion editorial Solveig and Sølve wrote for Teknisk Ukeblad (Norw.): https://bit.ly/3CizKwD #NetZero #Innovation #GreenTech

Elkem has plants across the world and they all have their unique way of taking care of the local community. One of our plants, situated in Emalahleni, South Africa, is called Ferroveld. To give back to the community and educate the local workforce, the plant offers learnerships. The work-based learning programs, which lead to an NQF registered qualification, employs 10 learners for six months twice a year and train them at the plant. Not only does this help prepare Elkem’s talent pipeline for the future, it is also a way for Elkem to share invaluable knowledge and expertise acquired over several decades of operating in the area. “When the learners finish the program, they walk out with skills and relevant industry experience”, Dumisani Makhoba, the plant manager, states. This is just one of our many local initiatives in Emalahleni. To learn more about Dumisani and the south African plant, read the interview in Elkem Magazine: https://bit.ly/3AKiboy

Reducing emissions is a key pillar of Elkem's climate roadmap, so we're happy to announce that all our Elkem Silicon Products smelters have now achieved ISO 50001 certification 🎉 🔌 The certification is an international standard that helps organisations improve their energy performance, increase energy efficiency, and reduce their environmental impact. ⚡️ This milestone means that an impressive 95% of Elkem’s total energy consumption is now ISO 50001 certified. Achieving this has been a journey driven by dedication and teamwork – a testament to our commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability. #SustainableBusiness #CleanTech

Last week, A.SPIRE hosted the 2nd European Process Industry Conference in Brussels. Our Director of Process Development, Marit Dolmen, represented Elkem and shared insights from her many years of experience in silicon technology research and production. Silicon has a bright future, Marit explained – it is a key material for the #GreenTransition and the digital transition, as it is notably used in electric vehicles, solar cells, batteries, computers, wind turbines. Therefore, it is listed on both the EU's Critical and Strategic Raw Materials lists. While the emissions from the carbon needed to produce silicon from quartz is hard to abate, we have several measures in our toolbox that can help reduce our climate footprint. Elkem's innovation efforts include: 🔬 Sicalo: Our ambitious Sicalo project aims to develop a novel concept for silicon production with nearly zero direct CO2 emissions. ♻️ Silicon Recycling: While recycling silicon is challenging, Elkem is undertaking innovation projects to develop a value chain for recycling solar cells, which have a higher silicon content. 🌱 Replacing fossil carbon with biocarbon 🏭 Implementing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) at our smelters As Europe moves towards a greener industrial future, Marit believes we must prioritise ✔️ Addressing the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries ✔️ Ensuring affordable and low-carbon energy ✔️ Increasing the financial attractiveness of decarbonisation for industries. #CleanIndustrialDeal #DraghiReport #ProcessIndConf #GreenTransition #ShapingTheTransformation #P4Planet #NetZero

As a partner of Miljøstiftelsen ZERO and a committed green industrial green leader, we at Elkem are always excited to attend #Zerokonferansen, Norway’s main meeting place for climate leaders to discuss the solutions needed for the green transition. Håvard Moe, Elkem’s CTO, presented our carbon capture and storage project in Rana, Norway, the world’s first pilot for CCS at a smelter. Carbon capture is a key component of Elkem’s climate strategy to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The pilot has shown high CO2 capture rates - up to 95% - proving the technical efficiency of the technology. The team is now working on maturing the project technically and making it commercially viable in an industry facing global competition. "CCS is the most powerful tool we have for cutting emissions in industry. Hard-to-abate industries such as steel, cement and silicon won't reach net zero without it. The technology is there - as is showcased by the pilot project at our Rana smelter - but it's extremely capital intensive. We need support schemes that cover both the capex and opex of these projects, and we need to have certainty that the transport and storage infrastructure will be in place." Pictured: Håvard Moe, Marianne Stigset, Anne Marit Post-Melbye, Maria Ekornes Myhre