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The Energy Awards 2014 were presented in Berlin at a festive gala in front of around 350 invited guests from politics, business and science. The Energy Awards annually award the best innovations and ideas in the field of energy. They are the “Oscars” of the energy transition in Germany.

The Alunorf Project Manager Olaf Trepels and Johann Giemsa from the Energy and Environment Department received the award for best "Commercial Plant of the Year" together with Thomas Mock, Head of Public Affairs at Hydro Aluminum Rolled Products GmbH.

The trophy for the plant in Neuss recognizes a pioneering innovation that saves considerable energy and emissions when annealing aluminum strips.

For decades, the process of annealing was always equally complex: Giant aluminum strips had to cool down for 24 hours before they were heated to 480 degrees in an annealing furnace in order to be rolled out into an even thinner aluminum strip that would later be used for offset printing plates or automotive parts is used.

The new special furnaces can take rolled aluminum strips without the previously technologically necessary cooling and can process them further precisely when individually hot. "This saves us as much energy as 9,000 households consume each year," says project manager Olaf Trepels. & Nbsp;

This text is machine translated. To view the original German text, click on DE on the top right of this window

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