New Delhi, Mar 18: RUSAL has commissioned the first industrial electrolyser using inert anodes, marking a pivotal step toward large-scale production of green aluminium. The new unit is designed to replace the most widely used smelting technology in Russia, demonstrating a practical pathway to decarbonize existing production infrastructure.
With this launch, RUSAL becomes the first company globally to move inert anode technology from industrial trials into commercial implementation. Unlike conventional processes with carbon anodes when CO₂ is generated, electrolysis with inert anodes emits only pure oxygen. For every tonne of aluminium produced using this technology, approximately 900 kilogrammes of oxygen are released into the atmosphere, eliminating direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting process itself.
The significance of this milestone lies not only in the technology itself, but in its applicability to existing industrial assets. With thousands of electrolysers currently operating across its smelters, RUSAL has now launched the first stage of what may become the most ambitious modernization programmes in the global aluminium industry. By integrating inert anodes into existing infrastructure, the company is creating a realistic pathway to produce green aluminium at scale — not just in new facilities, but across the heart of Russia’s aluminium production capacity.
For RUSAL’s customers, this development carries strategic value. Aluminium produced with inert anode technology offers the lowest carbon footprints in the industry, enabling manufacturers to build genuinely sustainable supply chains. As global regulators tighten requirements on embedded carbon emissions, access to such materials becomes critical. RUSAL’s inert anode aluminium allows customers to meet the most stringent regulatory standards and position their own products — from automotive components to food packaging — as leaders in the low-carbon transition.
The technology has already moved beyond pilot stage. Since 2017, RUSAL has systematically advanced inert anode electrolysis, producing approximately 6,000 tonnes of commercial-grade aluminium (A7, or P1020) and demonstrating consistent process stability and product quality.
RUSAL’s low-carbon brand ALLOW INERTA — aluminium produced with inert anode technology — has already been supplied to customers across multiple industries. Among the recent milestones, RUSAL produced Russia’s first aluminium can combining ALLOW INERTA with 64% recycled content, achieving an ultra-low carbon footprint. In late 2025, the company shipped a 25-tonne batch of ALLOW INERTA to a major Chinese customer for foil production used by one of the world’s largest multilayer packaging manufacturers. These applications demonstrate that inert anode aluminium is not a future concept, but a material already entering real-world supply chains.
“We have completed industrial trials and achieved stable production of commercial-grade aluminium using inert anodes,” said Evgenii Nikitin, CEO of RUSAL. “Now we are taking the next step: launching the first electrolyser as part of our broader modernization programme. This is about scale — proving that we can replace mass-market technology with a true zero-carbon solution across existing infrastructure. For our customers, that means access to aluminium that helps them build the greenest possible value chains and meet any current regulatory requirements.”
With the commissioning of the world’s first industrial inert anode electrolyser, RUSAL is demonstrating that deep decarbonization of aluminium is not a distant goal, but an emerging industrial reality — one that can be delivered at scale, integrated into existing assets, and built into the sustainable supply chains of the future.
