The project was funded with 1.5 million euros by the Federal Environment Ministry. Depending on the deformation during the rolling of the strips, annealing serves to ensure the desired metallurgical fine structure. It is essential for later processing steps as well as for the optimal function of the end product, whether as a newspaper printing plate, car body, house facade or packaging material.

Röttgen praised the company for the innovation: "Saving energy and using it as efficiently as you do is a major contribution to Germany's ability to achieve the energy transition. In addition, your material aluminum helps in many applications to use energy sparingly - and due to its extremely energy-efficient recycling it is an important material for the added value of our industry. “

Efficiency class "Al ++++"

Alunorf, the world's largest aluminum rolling and melting plant with an annual production of 1.5 million tons of semi-finished products, regulates its new annealing furnaces with newly developed online technology so efficiently that their operation is 4.9 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and Saving 9.8 million kWh of natural gas per year. Another 17 million kWh will be saved through lower consumption of the very climate-protective gas. This avoids a total of 8,300 tons of CO ₂ equivalents annually.

“We are now using the residual heat from the rolling of the strips, thereby halving the need for specific energy for our annealing furnaces. It is an excellent combination of savings in costs and emissions, good for the environment and for the result, ”says Alunorf managing director Thomas Geupel. He gave the stoves the new class "Al ++++" as a sign of maximum efficiency. Alunorf thus provides outstanding proof of how economy and ecology can harmonize with one another: "What serves the economy now also serves the environment here in Neuss".

The chairman of Alunorf's supervisory board and board member of the aluminum group Hydro, Oliver Bell, described the high efficiency of the operational processes throughout the aluminum group in the RheinKreis Neuss as a major strength. Through them, Alunorf, together with the Rheinwerk smelter next door and the Grevenbroich rolling mill, form a “magic triangle of aluminum”. Hydro saves a total of around 1.3 million tons of CO ₂ per year through product benefits and constant recycling. Bell: "Our aluminum is a real climate protector."

Full compensation of CO ₂ additional costs necessary

Bell also appealed to politicians to maintain this industrial base in Germany and referred to the upcoming emissions trading legislation from 2013 & nbsp; A complete compensation of the additional CO2 costs as necessary: "Only if we receive attractive overall competitive conditions for the entire value chain here, can our aluminum know-how make an even better contribution to climate protection and the technological energy transition."

Bell thanked the Chancellor and Minister Röttgen for their efforts to date to offset the increase in electricity prices due to European emissions trading in the third trading period. This compensation is necessary for primary aluminum production in Germany and the production facilities in RheinKreis Neuss.