Norsk Hydro to supply Porsche with low-carbon aluminium

By Victoria Klesty

OSLO (Reuters) - Norsk Hydro will supply Porsche AG with low-carbon aluminium and eventually recycle its battery materials as the luxury carmaker moves to decarbonise its supply chain, the companies said on Wednesday.

Makers of electric cars are looking to replace steel with aluminium to make car bodies and batteries lighter to increase mileage.

Hydro signed a similar deal late last year with German car maker Mercedes-Benz for a range of models from 2023, including its electric EQ models.

Porsche, which aims for a net carbon-neutral value chain by 2030, already buys aluminium and components from Hydro and will start buying low-carbon aluminium from the Norwegian company this year. Previously part of Volkswagen AG, Porsche became an independent company via a stock market listing last year.

The Hydro deal means the footprint of the aluminium, marketed under the REDUXA brand and made at Norwegian smelters which run on electricity from renewable sources, will be cut by about 3.5 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram aluminium used.

This is about 60% lower than the average primary aluminium consumed in Europe currently, the companies said.

Porsche Taycan, the brand's first fully electric sports car, already consists of about 30% aluminium in terms of weight.

Hydro targets a gradually diminishing carbon footprint on these deliveries and aims to reach zero by 2030 "for parts of the deliveries," a spokesperson told Reuters.

The firms also plan to jointly investigate how to recycle battery materials in Europe, aiming to establish an efficient closed loop solution for Porsche's EV batteries.

"Access to sustainably sourced raw materials is a key challenge for the automotive industry," Barbara Frenkel, Executive Board Member for Procurement at Porsche said in a statement.

The European supply chain for electric vehicle battery minerals, such as lithium, is still under development.

(Editing by Gwladys Fouche;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)