Elkem ASA has secured EUR 1.8 million in funding from the European Union for the groundbreaking Elkem Sicalo (Silicon production with carbon looping) project, which aims to eliminate all CO2 emissions from silicon production.

Elkem, SINTEF and NORCE are completing the first pilot phase of Elkem Sicalo at Elkem’s technology park in Kristiansand, Norway. The project entails capturing the carbon emitted from the silicon furnace and reusing it as a reductant in the silicon production process. The EU has now granted EUR 9.9 million in funding for the Horizon Europe project MECALO, which builds on Elkem Sicalo. MECALO will develop the concept of carbon looping further for general metal production, with demonstration of zero CO2 silicon and manganese alloys.

The manganese alloys producer Eramet, with its six smelters in Norway, France, the United States and Gabon, is the other metallurgical company in the consortium aiming to develop and use the technology from MECALO. If successful and fully implemented in all European production of silicon and manganese, MECALO could save 33 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year in 2050.

"Our research into carbon looping has the potential to be a game changer for the metal alloys industry to achieve net zero emissions. We are grateful to the EU for supporting this groundbreaking project. Strong public-private partnerships are essential for bridging resource gaps, spreading risk and leveraging complementary competencies. Together, we are strengthening Europe's resilience in the critical raw materials value chains,” said Elkem CEO Helge Aasen.

The MECALO project will research and develop a new production method that involves capturing carbon oxides from process off-gases, converting them to solid carbon using low-carbon hydrogen, and reusing the recovered carbon as a reduction material to produce critical metals and materials. While this method is showing promising results, it also presents challenges that need to be resolved, such as increased energy use.

The overall budget for MECALO is EUR 9.9 million (NOK 116 million), with Elkem’s budget and requested grant amounting to EUR 1.8 million (NOK 21 million).