5,500 electrolyzers have already been converted to energy-efficient structures, and the annual energy savings thanks to the program have exceeded 500 million kWh.
At the Irkutsk aluminum plant. Illustrative photo: Rusal.
Since 2017, the company has been implementing a program for the introduction of low-cost energy-saving solutions in electrolyzers. From 300 to 1300 electrolysis cells were converted to energy-saving structures every year, and now they are implemented in more than 5,500 electrolysis cells at five aluminum plants.
An aluminum electrolyzer is an electrochemical device used to produce aluminum by electrolysis of molten alumina (aluminum oxide) in cryolite.
By the end of 2024, the annual energy savings due to the implemented structures for the first time exceeded 500 million kWh, in monetary terms, the savings exceeded 1.7 billion rubles. In total, over the period of the Program's implementation, Rusal has saved more than 2.5 billion kWh of electricity.
This is one of the largest projects of the Rusal Engineering and Technology Center in the aluminum industry. Improved energy-efficient designs make it possible to optimize the magnetohydrodynamic properties of electrolyzers, reduce resistance, increase productivity and thereby reduce power consumption, while the implementation of structures does not require significant investments.
The program does not cover enterprises built by the company using the latest high-ampere technologies RA-300 and RA-400: Khakassky, Boguchansky and Taishetsky aluminum plants. These models of electrolyzers, developed by Rusal ITC, initially have high energy efficiency.
