EN+ Group commits to net-zero by 2050

Aluminium and hydropower giant EN+ Group has announced its intention to become a net-zero business by 2050, with a target also in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030.


EN+ Group commits to net-zero by 2050

The net-zero ambition will be delivered through the creation of an internal “climate change taskforce” led by chief operation officer Vyacheslav Solomin

EN+ Group is the latest corporate that has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The targets cover absolute emissions across all operations, including aluminium production plus heat and electricity production.

The targets – set against a 2018 baseline – are expected to be approved by the Science Based Targets Initiatives by the summer.

Lord Barker of Battle, Executive Chairman of En+ said: “Once again the En+ Group is showing ambitious sector leadership on the biggest environmental issue of our time. These climate change targets and the roll out of a detailed route map to meet them, are yet more tangible evidence of our commitment to lead the global aluminium industry into the low-carbon economy.

“We will achieve this transformation with relentless scientific innovation and a change programme driven right across the whole group. This will require continued investment in major scientific advances such as our pioneering inert anode technology and critical industrial process improvements, as well as the implementation of net zero initiatives for the hardest ‘last mile’ emissions.”

The group will engage with the UN Global Compact, a key partner of the SBTi, to ensure that the targets, which include a 35% reduction in emissions by 2030, are aligned to climate science. EN+ Group is part of the 9,500+ network of companies seeking to improve human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption through the UN Global Compact initiative.

The company had previously unveiled a raft of new CSR goals stretching to 2025 and relating to its environmental impacts. Those targets included reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15% from smelters and 10% from refineries compared with 2014 levels, and cutting power consumption at select sites by 7% from 2011 levels.

EN+ Group already produces 6% of the global aluminium output, while the energy segment of the group is the largest independent power producer in Russia. The Group operates hydro-generating assets totalling 15.1GW of installed electricity capacity and 17 kGcal/h of installed heat capacity.

The net-zero ambition will be delivered through the creation of an internal “climate change taskforce” led by chief operation officer Vyacheslav Solomin. The Taskforce will report to the Executive Chairman, Lord Barker.

Renewables is a key new market for the Group to explore. The company has recently announced plans to build numerous small-scale hydropower stations on small rivers across Siberia, with the capacity of the projects set to total 200MW. According to Bloomberg, a deal has been struck for an 8MW Segozerskaya plant, (costing $125m) to provide for a data centre developed by DCLab Karelia with more deals set to follow.

The Group’s 2025 goals will also aim to improve the efficiency of its renewable generation assets. Targets are in place to enable the generation of an additional 2TWh of renewable energy – equivalent to more than 3% of the Group’s total hydro generation in 2018 – from the same volume of water passing through its facilities. The generated clean energy will be used to replace coal-fired generation for operation, subsequently reducing emissions by 2.3 million tonnes of CO2 annually, more than 10% of the Group’s energy segment emission levels.

edie recently interviewed Lord Barker on the edie podcast. Click here to listen to the in-depth interview covering, green policy, the coronavirus pandemic and the net-zero transition.

Matt Mace

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