1 August 2019 — EN+ GROUP IPJSC (the “Company”, “the Group” or “En+ Group”), (LSE: ENPL; MOEX: ENPL) the world’s leading international vertically integrated aluminium and power producer, has joined the United Nations Global Compact, demonstrating its commitment to renewable energy and the production of low carbon aluminium.
The UN Global Compact is a 9,500+ strong network of companies aligned to ten core principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, En+ Group underlined its resolve to further reduce its environmental impact, through the achievement of its 2025 sustainability commitments and engagement in collaborative efforts towards a more sustainable aluminium industry. It pledged to report annually on its progress against the ten principles and to collaborating with industry peers and stakeholders to drive progress on these fundamental responsibilities.
The thrust of En+ Group’s efforts will focus on its continued work to reduce carbon emissions from aluminium production. The Company generates renewable energy from hydropower plants which is used to power its aluminium production.
It has publicly set stretching 2025 targets for improving the environmental performance of its aluminium production:
- To reduce of greenhouse gas emissions by 15% from its smelters and 10% from its alumina refineries as compared to 2014 levels [1]
- To reduce in power consumption of 7% at certain aluminium smelters from 2011 levels;
- To achieve an average level of specific direct and indirect energy-related greenhouse gas emissions of no more than 2.7 tCO2e/tAl.
The Power segment of the business also committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its operations. The key project within this scope is the hydropower plants’ modernisation programme. It will enable the generation of 2 TWh of additional renewable energy (c. 3.4% of the overall hydropower plants generation in 2018 [2]) from the same volume of water passing through the turbines of its HPPs. This hydroelectric energy will be used to partially replace the energy generated at coal-fired power plants in the region of operations, subsequently curbing GHG emissions by 2.3 million tonnes of CO2 (over 10% of the 2018 Power segment emissions level).
The Group is also investing in low carbon innovation projects, including the development and testing of inert anode technology, which could potentially transform the carbon footprint of the aluminium industry.
Lord Barker of Battle, Executive Chairman of En+ Group, commented:
“En+ Group believes that the ten principles of the UN Global Compact should be central to that of any 21st century business. We are proud to have joined this worldwide network and expect to work closely with signatories from around the globe to drive positive change for our industry and our planet. Business needs to step up and show leadership in the transition to low carbon economy.”
Vladimir Kiriukhin, Chief Executive Officer of En+ Group, said:
“Joining the UN Global Compact underlines our significant focus on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and improving the efficiency of both our hydropower and aluminium operations. We have set ourselves stretching targets for 2025 and recognise that the best way to drive improvement across the industry is through sharing, learning from, and building on innovation and experience from across our sectors. En+ Group recently joined the Energy Transitions Commission and now with our commitment to the Global Compact we are recognising our responsibility as a global business and demonstrating that we are ready for industry collaboration and to lead the push towards low carbon aluminium.”
En+ Group is actively engaged in global initiatives aimed at lowering the carbon footprint of the business. Among others, the Company is a participant of the World Bank’s Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition and recently joined the Energy Transition Commission.
[1] In 2018 aluminium production was 3,753 kt, alumina production – 7,774 kt
[2] In 2018 power generation at the Group’s HPPs was 58.3 TWh
