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Released July 05, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Projects related to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) movement are popping up across industries in North America, and the Metals & Minerals Industry is no exception--whether to incorporate renewable sources of energy to power factories, mines and smelters, or to recycle metals and lithium-ion batteries. Industrial Info is tracking US$3.6 billion worth of ESG-related projects under construction in the North American Metals & Minerals Industry.
The largest of these is Suncor Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:SU) (Calgary, Alberta) US$1 billion addition of a natural gas-fired cogeneration unit at its Fort McMurray oil sands base in Alberta. The project entails replacing three outdated coke-fired boilers with two gas-fired turbine generators. The unit addition will lower emissions, reducing sulfur-dioxide emissions by 45%, emissions of oxides of nitrogen by 15% and particulate matter by 66%, as well as requiring less water.
The 800-megawatt (MW) unit will provide power to the 350,000-barrel-per-day mining operation, with startup expected by the end of the year. At oil sands operations, cogeneration units generate heat to extract bitumen while producing electricity and steam. The power also will be transmitted to Alberta's power grid. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here to read a detailed project report.
Another Metals & Minerals project aimed at incorporating renewable energy into operations is at Veolia Environnement S.A.'s (Aubervilliers, France) plant in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where it treats spent pot liners used in the aluminum smelting process. Veolia is combining waste heat and solar generation at the plant, first by replacing two natural-gas powered units that were installed more than 50 years ago. The plant will be the first of its kind in North America to use its own waste heat to generate enough power to meet up to 70% of its total power needs.
In addition, a 5-MW solar farm also is under construction at the plant, which will make the facility carbon-neutral. The power from the solar array will be sold to South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative (Arkadelphia), which will supply the power back to Veolia as a green energy offset. Construction is expected to wrap up around the end of the year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the reports on the waste heat and solar farm projects.
Meanwhile, multinational materials provider Saint-Gobain (La Defense, France) is at work modernizing its gypsum board-manufacturing plant in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec. The project, which is expected to wrap up around the end of the year, entails replacing production equipment powered by natural gas with newer equipment powered by renewable energy. The equipment upgrades are expected to reduce the site's energy usage by 30% and expand its production capacity by 40%. Canadian public utility Hydro-Quebec (Montreal, Quebec) will provide renewable energy to the plant, which would be the first net zero-carbon wallboard plant in North America. Click here for more details.
Another component of the energy transition is recycling metals such as aluminum, which is increasingly used in the automotive sector. Steel Dynamics Incorporated (NASDAQ:STLD) (Fort Wayne, Indiana) expects construction of its $175 million grassroot aluminum-recycling plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, will wrap up in the fourth quarter. The new plant is one of two (the other is in Arizona) designed to supply recycled aluminum slab for two of Steel Dynamics' aluminum rolling mills. Subscribers can read more information on the Mexico and Arizona projects, the latter of which is expected to kick off in October.
Another rising sector related to ESG is lithium ion-battery recycling, which entails recovering battery materials to produce new batteries typically used in electric vehicles.
One such project is attributed to battery materials recycling firm Aqua Metals (Reno, Nevada) and its grassroot lithium ion-battery recycling plant in McCarran, Nevada. The plant will process black mass, which is ground lithium-ion batteries that contain nickel, cobalt and lithium, at an initial capacity of 3,000 tons per year by early 2025. The plant will utilize Aqua Metals' AquaRefining technology, a patented, water-based recycling process that recovers metals from spent batteries and other materials. A second phase, should it come to fruition, could boost throughput to 10,000 tons within a few years. Click here for the project report.
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has an agreement in place to provide the electrolyte (a chemical compound) used in Aqua Metals' AquaRefining process.
For more information on lithium-ion battery recycling projects in the U.S. and Canada, see June 6, 2024, article - U.S. and Canada Home to $5 Billion Worth of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Projects.
Subscribers can click here for all project reports mentioned in this article and here for related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The largest of these is Suncor Energy Incorporated's (NYSE:SU) (Calgary, Alberta) US$1 billion addition of a natural gas-fired cogeneration unit at its Fort McMurray oil sands base in Alberta. The project entails replacing three outdated coke-fired boilers with two gas-fired turbine generators. The unit addition will lower emissions, reducing sulfur-dioxide emissions by 45%, emissions of oxides of nitrogen by 15% and particulate matter by 66%, as well as requiring less water.
The 800-megawatt (MW) unit will provide power to the 350,000-barrel-per-day mining operation, with startup expected by the end of the year. At oil sands operations, cogeneration units generate heat to extract bitumen while producing electricity and steam. The power also will be transmitted to Alberta's power grid. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here to read a detailed project report.
Another Metals & Minerals project aimed at incorporating renewable energy into operations is at Veolia Environnement S.A.'s (Aubervilliers, France) plant in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where it treats spent pot liners used in the aluminum smelting process. Veolia is combining waste heat and solar generation at the plant, first by replacing two natural-gas powered units that were installed more than 50 years ago. The plant will be the first of its kind in North America to use its own waste heat to generate enough power to meet up to 70% of its total power needs.
In addition, a 5-MW solar farm also is under construction at the plant, which will make the facility carbon-neutral. The power from the solar array will be sold to South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative (Arkadelphia), which will supply the power back to Veolia as a green energy offset. Construction is expected to wrap up around the end of the year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the reports on the waste heat and solar farm projects.
Meanwhile, multinational materials provider Saint-Gobain (La Defense, France) is at work modernizing its gypsum board-manufacturing plant in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec. The project, which is expected to wrap up around the end of the year, entails replacing production equipment powered by natural gas with newer equipment powered by renewable energy. The equipment upgrades are expected to reduce the site's energy usage by 30% and expand its production capacity by 40%. Canadian public utility Hydro-Quebec (Montreal, Quebec) will provide renewable energy to the plant, which would be the first net zero-carbon wallboard plant in North America. Click here for more details.
Another component of the energy transition is recycling metals such as aluminum, which is increasingly used in the automotive sector. Steel Dynamics Incorporated (NASDAQ:STLD) (Fort Wayne, Indiana) expects construction of its $175 million grassroot aluminum-recycling plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, will wrap up in the fourth quarter. The new plant is one of two (the other is in Arizona) designed to supply recycled aluminum slab for two of Steel Dynamics' aluminum rolling mills. Subscribers can read more information on the Mexico and Arizona projects, the latter of which is expected to kick off in October.
Another rising sector related to ESG is lithium ion-battery recycling, which entails recovering battery materials to produce new batteries typically used in electric vehicles.
One such project is attributed to battery materials recycling firm Aqua Metals (Reno, Nevada) and its grassroot lithium ion-battery recycling plant in McCarran, Nevada. The plant will process black mass, which is ground lithium-ion batteries that contain nickel, cobalt and lithium, at an initial capacity of 3,000 tons per year by early 2025. The plant will utilize Aqua Metals' AquaRefining technology, a patented, water-based recycling process that recovers metals from spent batteries and other materials. A second phase, should it come to fruition, could boost throughput to 10,000 tons within a few years. Click here for the project report.
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has an agreement in place to provide the electrolyte (a chemical compound) used in Aqua Metals' AquaRefining process.
For more information on lithium-ion battery recycling projects in the U.S. and Canada, see June 6, 2024, article - U.S. and Canada Home to $5 Billion Worth of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Projects.
Subscribers can click here for all project reports mentioned in this article and here for related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
