The NetZeroLab Valais was established as part of the commitment of Novelis Sierre to reduce scope 1&2 CO2 emissions by leveraging carbon neutral solutions for aluminium manufacturing. Together with the Swiss innovation and research hub in Energypolis ( HES SO) and the local energy distributor Oiken the NetZeroLab brings together experts in areas of energy integration, modeling and simulation, life cycle analysis, furnaces operation and revamping, energy audit, and financial analysis.

A systemic study has been launched aiming at increasing the inherent efficiency of the process units and reusing waste heat of the plant’s unit operations, as well as at increasing the use of renewable energy resources available in the region 2 Different key performance indicators, such as efficiency CO 2 emissions, costs, and technology readiness levels, help to evaluate the suitability of various breakthrough technological solutions

Two decarbonization projects have been rewarded with funds by the Swiss government:

• P1 Sustainable natural gas and aluminium production via biomass gasification and enhanced waste heat recovery in Novelis plant in Sierre city focused on the utilization of renewable energy resources for phasing out the fossil natural gas consumption, profiting from seasonal storage, power to gas energy technologies and processes electrification, along with rational energy use of biomass resources at higher temperatures. The goal is to use biomass to better supply high grade heat to heavy industry, which can be later cascaded for its utilization at lower temperature in a district heating network of Sierre

• P2 Enhanced waste heat recovery approach for the reduction of fuel consumption in the aluminium industry which addressed the reduction of the energy consumption and irreversibilities (triggered by large driving forces occurring inside fired furnaces) thanks to optimal temperature profiles A concept defined as Heat Transfer Interface was introduced to deal with the conjugate heat transfer phenomena between solids and gases in a simplified way It allowed elucidating the impact of the heating ramps on the furnace efficiency and residence times, informing the industry about potential gains associated to the modified scheduling of the recipes