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Energia Potior Brand Story 2016 v10 copy

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Published by carryn, 2016-04-13 00:10:46

Energia Potior Brand Story 2016 v10 copy

Energia Potior Brand Story 2016 v10 copy

Page 1

Page 2 Energia Potior – Latin Definition: to master energy

Author

Dr. Linda Wright, Phd, BSC (Hons) 1st Class

tpPoeootwhpeelre

This article is a contextual think-piece which summarises the potential
impact the newly developed EnPot aluminium smelter technology could
have on the economics of aluminium production, and our future global
energy needs.

Just 200 aluminium smelters Energia Potior Limited
consume the same amount of
power as 1.2 billion people E M A I L [email protected]
use domestically P H O N E +64 274 426 750

W E B www.energiapotior.com
S K Y P E energiapotior

F A C E B O O K www.facebook.com/energiapotior

The EnPot Story

Page 1

EnPot fundamentally transforms the way electricity is consumed during the
aluminium smelting process

The EnPot system breaks the “Aluminium smelting is impossibly The EnPot System
restraints of current aluminium huge for the average consumer to changes everything to
smelting process and provides comprehend. A medium sized smelter do with the economics
dynamic control of an aluminium produces around US$1 billion worth of primary aluminium
smelters potlines. For the first time of aluminium a year, and essentially
energy use and production can be requires a dedicated power station to production
increased or decreased by as much supply its energy needs.
as 30%, instantaneously at the turn “An average sized aluminium smelter
of a dial. consists of 420 pots using between
This promises to be the most 500-550 megawatt hours of power at
transformative breakthrough in a constant rate, enough to power an
primary aluminium production in entire European city of over 1.25 million
125 years, and its development is of houses.
global significance. “In fact the world’s 200 aluminium
“It actually changes everything to smelters consume the same amount
do with the economics of primary of power as 1.2 billion people use
aluminium production,” says one of domestically in their homes,” he says.
the world’s preeminent experts
in aluminium smelting, Dr. Mark
Dorreen, Director of the Light
Metals Research Centre at The
University of Auckland, in New
Zealand.

Page 2 “The current problem with aluminium Living with renewables There are no easy wins
smelting is that the process not only when moving to a heavy
requires a lot of electricity; but it needs How our future growing energy renewables grid
it continuously to keep the electrolysis needs will be met is one of the most
process running. globally discussed topics of our time. As consumers we will need to adjust
“With the existing aluminium primary If we accept that fossil fuel and our energy use to accommodate
production process, smelters are built nuclear power generation are losing intermittency, by being able
with a very narrow energy use window, acceptability, and that new future to purchase electricity when
that is they cannot vary the energy input power generation must come from generation is high and prices are
of a smelter by much more than plus or renewable sources, then we must low, rather than just when we need
minus 5%,” he says. fundamentally change the way we it. The answer for consumers is also
Essentially an aluminium smelter is consume energy. storage, in both our homes and our
designed to operate at full capacity While it is predicted that in the electric vehicles, but again we are
24/7, 365 days a year, for its entire future we will generate enough currently technologically short.
lifespan. Even routine maintenance power from solar sources to power To the free market, the future
is conducted with the smelter the world, for at least the next 25 cost of electricity has to rise in the
running at near full capacity. years we will have to adjust our short to medium term, and this
Dr. Dorreen says that the maximum- consumption patterns to cope with will help change behaviour, both
production straightjacket that the intermittency of power generation. curbing demand and driving energy
aluminium industry currently is in, There are no easy wins when efficiencies. More importantly
has a significant and dramatic effect moving to a heavy renewables grid, however, it will accelerate the
on both the cost of production for as there is the inherent problem of development and introduction of
individual smelters, as well as the intermittency of generation when new technologies.
dynamics of the supply and demand the sun doesn’t shine and the To the environmentally conscious, it
curves of the industry as a whole. wind doesn’t blow. Intermittency is these new technologies that hold
“It also creates power supply issues for increases costs to the grid, as you still the key to a truly sustainable future.
national grids, especially as nations have to keep backup thermal power
seek to generate a higher percentage of generation online. Investing in mass
their electricity from renewable sources, energy storage is the obvious answer,
which are inherently more intermittent but this adds yet more cost and we
in their generation,” he says, “and are currently technologically short.
this is good reason for all of us to be
interested.”

With the predicted rise in incomes in the developing
world over the next 15 years, global demand for

aluminium is expected to double over the same period

What about the big energy It can be argued that our increasing Page 3
users, the industries that use of aluminium reduces our
consume nearly 50% of the consumption of fossil fuels. It is
power generated globally? estimated that fuel consumption
How can they contribute efficiencies resulting from the
moving forward? light-weighting of vehicles with
aluminium already offsets 90%
Aluminium smelting accounts for of the energy consumption, and
over 3% of the world’s total electricity 96% of cumulative greenhouse
use, which is equivalent to 16.5% of gas emissions, associated with the
total global domestic consumption. primary production of aluminium.
Leading aluminium’s sustainability
The global significance of credentials however, are three facts
aluminium that also give credibility to the
metal’s historic importance. Firstly,
Aluminium is considered one of the it is estimated that 75% of all the
most important metals in the history aluminium ever manufactured,
of human civilisation, and is now dating back 125 years, is still in use.
the second most used metal globally Secondly, aluminium is arguably
after steel. the most recyclable product in
Although aluminium oxide is the the world, and can be readily
earth’s most plentiful surface metal, recycled perpetually without any
the metallic aluminium we use deterioration in quality.
everyday doesn’t occur naturally and Thirdly, recycling aluminium only
requires smelting to render it into its requires 5% of the energy used
metallic form. to originally smelt it from its ore
state. As Albert Einstein theorised,
“energy cannot be created or destroyed,
it can only be changed from one form to
another.”

Our per capita consumption of
aluminium rises with our income as we
purchase more consumer goods and seek
to light-weight everything from phones
and tablets, to cars.

75% of the world’s
aluminium smelters may

not be profitable

What this means is that those “Not only does the average pot line
window frames in your house are represent at least US$1 billion worth
not just inert pieces of metal, they of investment, but restarting a pot line
are in fact storing energy, some of again after a shutdown is expensive and
it from fossil fuel power generation, can take up to six months to complete.
for further use when recycling has So it’s rarely done,” he says.
occurred in another 70-100 years. Dr.Dorreen says that on an individual
basis, the majority of smelters would
It may be however, that our use of most likely be making money when
aluminium is only just beginning the cost of energy is low, but they
Page 4 to get interesting. In April 2015 have no choice but to lose money
Stanford University announced when electricity prices are high,
its scientists had invented the first such as peak consumption times or
high-performance aluminium- when electricity generation is low.
ion battery, which compared to Aluminium is arguably the most “This can be viewed as the ultimate
the lithium-ion battery, is faster recyclable product in the world. waste, by having to consume electricity
charging, longer lasting, and more at its peak price to produce something
powerful. Importantly as lithium is a While it remains difficult to only to lose money on it, just because you
rare metal and aluminium a plentiful acquire data on individual smelters, have no other option. Especially when
metal, aluminium-ion batteries industry analysts estimate that you consider that during these times, this
promise to be significantly cheaper. given the cost of electricity and the power could be better utilised elsewhere
price of aluminium, 70-75% of the on the grid.
The aluminium-ion battery may world’s aluminium smelters are not “On a macro economic level however,
very well be the technology we operating profitably and probably the collective impact of a smelter’s
need to drive the widespread use of haven’t been for the better part of a inability to back off from anything other
renewable energy, by helping resolve decade. than full production, means that as an
the issues of intermittency with As Dr. Dorreen points out the key industry the conventional economic
cost effective and powerful energy problem lies with the limitations of paradigms of supply and demand are
storage. the current smelting process. completely disrupted.
“The primary production process of “If there is an oversupply in any normal
But all is not roses when it comes aluminium has remained essentially scenario, the price will drop until the
to both the economics and energy unchanged since 1886 and it continues least-efficient producers decide to
consumption associated with to restrict a smelters energy use to a very either wind back production, or exit the
primary aluminium production. narrow range. market altogether,” he says.
“Reducing production is not a trivial
undertaking, as it requires shutting
down part of the smelter, usually a
whole pot line, which represents 20-30%
of a smelters production and can take
up to three months to achieve.

Aluminium smelters are large
generators of downstream
jobs and economic activity

Dr. Dorreen says that even a If the majority of smelters are There are good reasons why Page 5
relatively short period of oversupply currently losing money, then free governments are interested in
in the aluminium industry can lead market thinking would predict that aluminium production, as smelters
to a large inventory being stockpiled a number of smelters would need to are big generators of economic
quite quickly, making it very difficult close down. activity. All of the aluminium
for the market to return to any sort While a few have closed in recent produced by smelters is transformed
of economic equilibrium. years, it is clear that many are either by thousands of downstream
“Prices can remain depressed for being supported by shareholders, industries into products we buy and
extended periods of time in the with their eye on the long game, or use everyday.
aluminium industry as current directly or indirectly by governments, Simply put, many of the world’s
production can’t be scaled back. This or possibly a combination of both. aluminium smelters are just too big
means the market not only has to and too important to their national
wait until demand rises, but also any economies to unplug.
stockpiles have been reduced before
prices can rebound,” he says.

This historic graph illustrates how even short periods of oversupply can lead to
stockpiling and depressed prices. Note: the current price of aluminium is US$1479/
tonne.

EnPot can be economically retrofitted to
most of the world’s smelters, and opens
up the energy use window.

Page 6 The potential impact
of EnPot
While the EnPot technology allows for going both up and down by similar
So if we accept that nations consume amounts, for some smelters it will be impossible to go beyond their current energy
primary aluminium production, not use ceiling.A large number of smelters will be able to however, albeit with some
individuals in the free market, then infrastructure upgrades. It could be predicted that the ability to go both up and
where do we go from here? down would become a design prerequisite on any new smelter constructed in
“Without a solution to the problem of the future.
not being able to vary the electricity
consumption of smelters, the whole
situation will only get worse in the
short to medium term, as power supply
tightens and becomes more intermittent
as we move towards more renewable
generation,” Dr. Dorreen says.
“This is where the EnPot technology will
be transformative.
“It is estimated that the EnPot system
can be economically retrofitted to 90%
of the world’s smelters, and gives smelter
operators the ability to turn down
energy use by up to 30% almost instantly,
assuming they can reorganise the other
parts of their business to cope with the
decrease in production.
“The implications are enormous, not only
for the aluminium smelting industry, but
also for the nations that host smelters and
that struggle to generate enough clean
power to meet domestic consumption at
times of peak demand, or at times of low
power generation,” he says.

The EnPot system is likely to
be the biggest breakthrough
in aluminium smelting for
the last 125 years

Dr. Dorreen says the ability to “As nations try to increase the “The EnPot technology is also much Page 7
reduce electricity usage during peak percentage of power generated from cheaper than building new generation
price times, and at times of low renewable sources, it may even allow capacity,” he says.
generation, and then to make hay the aluminium industry to be part of the “A full EnPot smelter conversion on an
while the sun shines by increasing solution of accommodating increased existing medium sized smelter, would
production during low cost times, intermittency,” he says. cost around US$20m and enable
is a far more efficient and profitable Dr. Martin Iffert, CEO of TRIMET the smelter to free up as much as 150
way to smelt aluminium. Aluminium SE, believes that the megawatts of power at peak times.
“Not only would smelters be able to EnPot technology could be used like “For some governments, and even power
reduce cost of production by better a virtual battery to buffer demand companies, it may make sense to pay
utilising cheaper power generation, but against supply in Germany, as the smelters to install EnPot, and negotiate
the industry could avoid the long periods country seeks to increase its use of with them to free up power in times of
of depressed prices due to oversupply renewable power generation under low generation, as the capital required
and stockpiling. the Energiewende programme. to construct this amount of power from
For these reasons, the EnPot technology “TRIMET’s trials of the EnPot new land-based wind power or solar
could transform the economic outlook technology indicate that by being able generation is between US$3.3 and 7.5
and profitability of a large number of to dynamically increase or decrease our billion depending on the technology
the world’s smelters,” Dr. Dorreen says. energy use by 25%, TRIMET could in used,” Geoff says.
To contextualize how big a fact become the energy bridge buffering The amount of power smelters
breakthrough the new EnPot supply and demand in Germany,” he could free up at peak domestic
technology is for the aluminium says. consumption times is significant.
smelting industry, Dr. Dorreen says “This would effectively enable
the EnPot technology is the first TRIMET to become a significant part The EnPot technology
transformative change to aluminium of Germany’s energy storage capacity. could transform the
smelting since the introduction Our goal is to use our smelters to give
of the modern pre-baked carbon Germany a virtual battery capacity of economic outlook and
anodes in the 1950s. 12GWh, which would be approximately profitability of a large
“In terms of gross economic efficiencies 25% of Germany’s current pump hydro number of the world’s
however, the EnPot system is likely to be storage capacity,” Dr. Iffert says.
the biggest breakthrough in aluminium Geoff Matthews, Vice President for smelters
smelting for the last 125 years,” he says. Energia Potior Ltd, the company
Dr. Dorreen says that the EnPot responsible for commercialising the
technology could make the EnPot technology, says that for many
aluminium smelting industry not countries the installation of the
only more competitive, but more EnPot technology in local aluminium
responsive to the wider community smelters, would help alleviate
and environment around it. problems with intermittency in
their national grids, and could even
enable the decommissioning of
fossil fuel or nuclear power stations.

The EnPot Technology was
installed on 12 trial pots (cells)

at TRIMET Aluminium SE
Essen, in June 2014.

“EnPot allows us to break the restraints of the current cell design and open up the operating window,”
Roman Düssel, Production Manager – Electrolysis, TRIMET Aluminium SE, Essen.

Page 8 Dr. Pretesh Patel, Chief Engineer for shifted up and down by such a degree,” installed have outperformed the
Energia Potior Ltd, was responsible he says. rest of the pots in the line with
for retrofitting the first EnPot system “The EnPot technology allows us 0.25 DCkWh/kg lower energy
into a major European smelter in to dynamically control the heat loss consumption and 0.4% higher
2014. of the pot and therefore maintain current efficiency.
“We have run the EnPot technology heat balance under a wide range of “These results underpin our confidence
successfully in a partitioned section of a operating conditions. It basically allows in the EnPot technology and we are
smelter in Germany since June 2014 and us to break the restraints of the current confident we will realize our goal of ±
the EnPot System has performed above cell design and open up the operating 25% energy usage when we have it on
expectations. window”. the whole potline,” he says.
“What it provides for the first time Roman Düssel says TRIMET have Dr. Patel says that while the
is dynamic control of the smelter’s easily been able to maintain stable TRIMET results are specific to the
pot-lines so that energy input and operations with power increases of Essen smelter, they are indicative
aluminium production can be increased 20% and reductions of 13%, on the of the power savings that could
or decreased as and when required,” 12 pots installed with the EnPot heat be achieved with EnPot when
Dr. Patel says. exchangers and are currently only producing aluminium. “In real
Roman Düssel, Production Manager limited by the impact on the rest of terms the power savings from
– Electrolysis, TRIMET Aluminium the pots in the line, which do not installing EnPot in all the German
SE, Essen says the goal for TRIMET have EnPot. smelters could power 45,000 homes
has been to find pathways to allow “We have proven that when modulating in normal operating mode, and up to
the smelter to shift power use by power the pots with EnPot installed 180,000 if modulation was used. At
± 25%. operate with approximately 1 DCkWh/ the same time the smelters would be
“The biggest problem with our kg lower energy consumption than pots producing aluminium at a cheaper
conventional cell design is that we without EnPot, which is a huge saving,” cost per kilogram.”
cannot maintain an operational cell he says. Dr. Patel says there are also a number
heat balance when varying cell power, Roman says that under normal of other significant operational
meaning the pots will either ‘tap out’ or operating conditions with normal benefits the EnPot system delivers
‘freeze over’ if the power input to them is line amperage, the pots with EnPot to smelter operators.

The biggest problem is with conventional cell design is that an operational cell heat balance cannot be maintained when
varying cell power. EnPot allows dynamic control of the heat loss of the pot to maintain heat balance under a wide range of
operating conditions.

“Being able to insulate the pots in the “The great thing about the EnPot system Page 9
situation of a serious power failure is that it is relatively inexpensive to
delays the solidification of the molten retrofit and does not change the intrinsic
liquid. nature of the process,” he says, “it is also
Dr. Patel says unplanned shutdowns totally non-invasive, and carries no
are serious events, and can even be integrity risk to the smelter, I can think
catastrophic. of nothing else that gives as much value
“The EnPot system will double the to all of the smelter’s stakeholders.
time available before the pots solidify. “It frees up peak time power for nations
Not only could this extra time be the to use, it accommodates intermittency
difference between a smelter freezing in the grid, improves process efficiency
or not, it also allows the operators to try and enables smelter operators to control
and mitigate some of the effects of an production, increases profits to smelter
unplanned shutdown so it is easier, or shareholders and reduces the need for
even possible to restart the smelter when subsidies, improves working conditions
power is restored,” he says. and reduces insurance risk, all at the
Dr. Patel says the EnPot system also same time,” Dr. Patel says.
improves the working environment As the free market proponents
in the potroom for staff, by ducting would say, necessity is the mother of
away a significant amount of heat all invention, and all new technology
generated by the pots. is always adopted just in time.
It seems that on many levels the
EnPot technology is right on cue.

ENDS.

For further information please contact
in the first instance:

Geoff Matthews

E M A I L [email protected]
P H O N E +64 274 426 750

POST SCRIPTS

wHoorwksEnPot

Page 10 How the EnPot “The process of making aluminium is an “Its a bit like a burning candle.The solid
System works electro-chemical process that requires wax around the outside will contain the
an electric current as the driving force hotter molten wax that forms around
The EnPot technology was first for the reaction to occur. the flame in the centre.
developed and patented by a “Basically in laymen’s terms, we run a “So to contain the molten cryolite in the
specialist team of researchers powerful electric current through large middle of the pot and to stop it from
and engineers at the Light Metals carbon-lined steel furnace pots filled melting through the outer pot wall,
Research Centre at The University with metal oxide and molten electrolyte we use a solid ledge buffer of colder
of Auckland, which has long kept at close to 1000 C̊ . The electric cryolite”, he says.
been acknowledged as one of the current breaks the molecular bonds “But now comes the really difficult bit.
preeminent aluminium smelting of the oxide, and the resulting heavier “The electro-chemical process used to
research institutes in the world. metallic aluminium then collects at the make aluminium produces a massive
Dr. Pretesh Patel, Chief Engineer bottom of the pot, ready for siphoning amount of heat as a by-product. How
for Energia Potior Ltd, who was off and casting. heat is dispersed through the pot from
intimately involved in converting the Dr. Patel says the difficult bit is that the centre to the outside is critical. If the
original research and prototype into the molten electrolyte is a compound outer part of the pot gets too hot, the
the practical design and application called cryolite, which in its liquid solid cryolite will melt and then dissolve
of the technology into smelters, state will dissolve virtually anything the carbon sidewall lining and the steel
explains how the EnPot System known to man. In fact the only shell of the pot, ultimately leading to a
works. thing proven to contain hot molten pot failure.
cryolite, is cooler solid cryolite. “If on the other hand the temperature
drops too much, then the cryolite liquid
material will solidify and effectively
freeze the pot.All smelters are built with
a very narrow temperature window
for the molten bath, usually only about
30°C, and hence why they must consume
power at a very consistent rate.”

Natural cryolite is extremely rare and is only found in a handful of deposits
around the world. Most commercially used cryolite came from just one large
deposit at Ivigtût on the west coast of Greenland, and was depleted by 1987.

Yunca Engineering provided specialist smelter experience to ensure the EnPot technology could be easily and non-invasively
retrofitted to existing smelters.

Dr. Patel says that with the current cell design, increasing energy use above The EnPot System can Page 11
the design window would generate more heat, which would need to be be used to either act
removed from the outside of the pot faster to prevent pot failure. Conversely,
reducing energy use below the current design window would require as an air-conditioner
insulating the pot to keep it from cooling. or a thermal blanket,
“To do both has been impossible before now, however over the last decade the teams depending on energy
at Energia Potior and the Light Metals Research Centre, have worked closely with
Yunca Engineering to perfect the EnPot System so that it can both cool or insulate.” use and production
“While it sounds theoretically straight forward, it took over a decade of research requirements
as well as the development of significant patented technology to make it work. Now
the dynamic control that it gives smelter operators enables a smelter to significantly
vary its electricity use and production output,” Dr. Patel says.

ENDS.

The EnPot system places up to 60 intricate heat exchangers against the side of each For more technical information
pot and connects them to an external ducting system.The airflow to each exchanger please contact:
can be varied by using a series of precisely controlled extractor fans allowing the
exchangers to cool the pot, or keep the pot warm, depending on what is needed. Dr. Pretesh Patel

CHIEF ENGINEER

E M A I L [email protected]

In the main article Power to the People, we touched on two important topics that give context to the wider environment
that aluminium smelters operate in; the economics of the market place and living with more intermittent power
generation.The following stand-alone articles expand the discussion, as the topics could not be fully explored within
the length of the main article.

Transforming the Thealuminium
Economics of the industry’s inability
to adjust supply

makes it extremely
difficult for economic
Marketplace fundamentals to be
applied

Page 12 The EnPot technology has the Dynamics of aluminium How the Enpot System
potential to transform the economics production means usual can change the economic
of global primary aluminium economic paradigms are fortunes of the aluminium
production. distorted industry

Background The current dynamics of the Geoff Matthews, Vice President of
current aluminium industry with Energia Potior Ltd, says the potential
The economics of supply and the inability to adjust supply, impact of the EnPot technology
demand is underpinned by some makes it extremely difficult for on the macro economics of the
basic fundamentals. these economic fundamentals to be aluminium industry should not be
When supply exceeds demand, applied. underestimated.
then demand pressure falls, closely Even short periods of oversupply “For the first time in 125 years the
followed by price.As price falls, profit can lead to stockpiling, which keeps EnPot technology will give smelter
margins are squeezed to the point prices depressed for a much longer operators the ability to instantaneously
that the least efficient producers period than the original oversupply. back off production by up to 30%.
either cut back on their production, With limited ability for smelters to Any oversupply in the market can be
or leave the market altogether. This back off from full production, one matched to production, and collectively
shrinks supply, and demand pressure could argue that the aluminium this would give the aluminium industry
then rises again, allowing prices to industry is in fact being supported a much greater chance of staying closer
follow suit. by its own stakeholders, somewhat to the point of economic equilibrium,”
The point where the supply and counter-intuitively, to overproduce Geoff says.
demand curves meet is called the during times of low prices and keep “It currently takes months to
economic equilibrium. prices depressed. decommission part or all of a smelter,
When demand exceeds supply, Occasionally for a variety of reasons, and at considerable cost.
prices can rise and suppliers can aluminium smelters are closed down “Smelters without EnPot installed will
enjoy increased margins and profits. or decommissioned, but because be at a serious disadvantage to those
Usually at that point the rising aluminium is such an important who can instantly back off production
market has attracted new entrants metal, it is still predicted that 40-50 when prices fall,” he says.
and investment, which expands new smelters will need to be built
supply and the cycle starts again. in the next 15 years to keep up with
The study of economics is really the increased demand. This means that
study of where any particular industry as new smelters come online there
is relative to the point of equilibrium will be an even larger production
at any given point in time, taking into base oversupplying the market if
account the enormous complexities and when demand falls.
of every single facet affecting the
exchange of goods and services
between buyers and sellers.
When to invest in an industry is
also key, as much investment often
actually occurs at the bottom of the
cycle in preparation for an upwards
market.

Oversupply in the
market can now be
matched to production

Using the EnPot technology to increase production will be extremely appealing to those smelters whose infrastructure can be
upgraded to cope with the increased amperage

Geoff says the smelters who have “For those with multiple smelters in Using EnPot to increase Page 13
the capacity to take advantage of their portfolio which can go up, it could production will be a huge
the EnPot technology’s ability to be the equivalent of bringing a new advantage to existing
go up, will have a massive strategic smelter online for a fraction of the cost smelters
advantage when demand rises again, of a new build,” Geoff says. “This will
as it is predicted to do in the future. be a huge advantage to those existing
“Smelters who can go up will be able to companies, and a huge deterrent to new
use EnPot not only to increase financial players seeking to enter the market, as
returns in good times, but also as a they will first have to cross that US$5-9
defensive strategy. Being able to respond billion investment barrier”, Geoff says.
almost immediately to increased “Not only have you saved yourself
demand, will make it less attractive to billions in capital investment, but
new players thinking about entering the also the overhead costs of running an
market when the price of aluminium is additional smelter. Furthermore, when
high. demand goes down again, you won’t be
Geoff says financially the numbers burdened with the on-going costs of an
supporting the use of the EnPot additional smelter producing at 100%
System to increase production will capacity.
be extremely appealing to smelters “This will be a huge advantage
whose existing infrastructure can be to existing companies, and a huge
upgraded to cope with the increase deterrent to new players seeking to
in amperage. enter the market, as they will first have
“Even though the cost of upgrading to cross that US$5-9 billion investment
infrastructure is not insubstantial, barrier”, Geoff says.
given the capital cost of building a
new smelter is estimated to be between ENDS.
US$5-9 billion, you could effectively
save billions of dollars over building
new production capacity by upgrading
your existing smelter with a full EnPot
conversion.

Energy consumption will become the new carbon
footprint for businesses wanting to establish their

environmental credentials with consumers

Fundamentally
changing the way
we use electricity

Page 14 Our future homes, cars and “Consumers will welcome the day they Advances in household energy
businesses will need to be smart can come home from work and park storage will disrupt the existing
enough to purchase energy when their electric vehicle in their garage electricity markets, by enabling
generation is high and prices are and it charges wirelessly from a battery homes to store both electricity
low. that’s been charged from solar panels generated from their own solar
For consumers the key to moving on their garage roof, or topped up from sources, or purchased from the grid
away from our twice a day peak the grid after automatically scanning at low cost times.
power consumption and living spot rates on the electricity market for “Household energy storage will give
with a highly renewables grid will the cheapest price. consumers the choice of when to buy
be household battery storage and “Cars in the future will cost virtually electricity from the grid, and at what
physical energy storage such as nothing to operate. It’s not a hard sell price,” Geoff says.
hydrogen generation. to consumers once electric vehicles “Our energy storage devices will be
Energy-storage devices or physical meet their expectations on price and smart enough to take advantage of low
systems that store energy for later performance,” Geoff says. spot prices on the grid by topping up
use, was named by the McKinsey The range of these vehicles won’t when the sun is shining or the wind is
Global Institute in 2013 as one of the be a problem in the future either, blowing and the big generators have
12 technologies that could drive truly as batteries improve and the excess power to sell, or even give away.”
massive economic transformations technology to be able to charge It is also likely that hydrogen
and transform life, business and the vehicles wirelessly from the road as generation and storage will also play
global economy. you drive is commercialised further. a part in our home heating needs,
Geoff Matthews, Energia Potior’s Moving to an electric vehicle as excess electricity generated from
Vice President, is regarded as one is also the single greatest thing home solar systems or the grid, can
of New Zealand’s best marketers individual households can do to be used to make and store hydrogen
with a special interest in consumer lower their CO2 emissions, which for later use.
behaviour. is an important motivator for the Geoff says that changing household
“While I generally agree with the environmentally conscious. infrastructure is an expensive
statement that all technology is usually Hydrogen fuel cell technology may proposition so any uptake of new
adopted just in time, this is one area be the preferred choice for people technologies will rely heavily on
were the consumers are ahead of whose daily drive is a large SUV or a the cost benefits for consumers. But
current technology. tractor. Hydrogen will be able to be believes we are not too far away.
“Consumers don’t need to be sold on the created and stored from household
benefits of moving to smarter, cheaper wastewater and solar energy, with
and more sustainable ways to use power. top ups from the grid at cheap spot
They are already there, waiting on four pricing.
things; availability, price, convenience
and integration.

Tesla is likely to be first to market in household storage energy solutions with its consumer friendly Powerwall battery.

“Stanford University made a significant We are at least two Page 15
breakthrough in 2015 with the decades away from
development of the aluminium-ion producing renewable
battery. The aluminium-ion battery energy in abundance
could be the disruptive technology we
need to bring the cost of household “If indivdual consumers have to alter
energy storage down and make it their consumption patterns and make
accessible across the globe. personal investment to fit in with the
“Combine that with solar power, which intermittency of a heavy renewables
in terms of energy generation capacity grid, then they will expect the businesses
is doubling every 22 months, and we can they deal with to be equally committed.
see the economics changing rapodly in “While the long-term outlook is for the
the next few years. planet to generate renewable energy in
“The real tipping point for consumers abundance, we are at least two decades
however, will be when they can easily away from that becoming a reality, so
have a system installed in their homes in the short to medium term it will be
that not only saves them money, but important for businesses not be seen
takes out the hard work, by being able to be hogging power at times of low
to self-monitor and buy when the price generation on the grid, as we try and
is right,” he says. wean ourselves off fossil fuels,” Geoff
Matthews says.
What does this mean for our
businesses? ENDS.

Geoff Matthews says that at some
stage in the near future, energy
consumption will become the new
carbon footprint for businesses
wanting to establish their
environmental credentials with
consumers.

ABOUT ENERGIA POTIOR LIMITED

Energia Potior is a
partnership between
Auckland UniServices
Limited and Yunca
Holdings Limited.

Page 16 Auckland UniServices Limited is the commercialisation arm of The University
of Auckland, and Yunca Holdings Limited, a private sector manufacturing and
engineering company.

History focussed on helping make smelters more enables production to be substantially
efficient and more profitable. increased or decreased, will leverage a
The EnPot technology was first “Yunca intimately understands the degree of price control from the buyers
developed and patented by a reliance global economies place on and pass it back to the primary smelting
specialist team of researchers at aluminium smelting, while at the same industry, where it belongs,” Terry
the Light Metals Research Centre time by working to find better solutions Young says.
at The University of Auckland. for smelters also recognises that changes
The University has long been need to be made to the industry going Commercialising EnPot
acknowledged as one of the forward.
preeminent aluminium smelting “The Light Metals Research Centre’s Terry Young says that after the
research institutes in the world. initial research showed great successful long-term German trial, it
During a decade of development, potential to fundamentally change became obvious to both Yunca and
prototyping and testing of EnPot, the way energy is consumed during UniServices, that the best way to
the Light Metals Research Centre the aluminium smelting process, and commercialise the EnPot technology
worked closely with Yunca Holdings Yunca from the very early stages of was through the establishment of
Ltd (Yunca), whose aluminium development recognised how significant company dedicated to delivering the
smelter experience and expertise a breakthrough for the industry the technology globally.
was used to develop the technology EnPot technology could be when fully “While it is a mechanical technology
so that the EnPot heat exchangers commercialised. that can be easily retrofitted to 90% of
could be easily retrofitted to “While it took a substantial amount the smelters in the world, it requires
aluminium smelters in a non- of work from both the research team very cleaver brains to make it work
invasive manner. at the Light Metals Research Centre efficiently and to extract the maximum
Terry Young, Founder of Yunca and and the engineering team at Yunca to benefit from the technology.
President of Energia Potior Ltd, says perfect the EnPot System and make “Energia Potior Ltd is about bringing
the partnership brings together the it ready for commercialisation, I am together a specialist team that can
best of both worlds. certain the end result will help change provide a total turn-key solution to
“Yunca has been working at the coal the economic outlook for a large number smelter operators around the world,”
face withaluminium smelters for over of aluminium smelters. he says.
20 years and has accumulated over a “For the first time in the 125 year history
million hours of work for smelters. A of aluminium smelting a solution that
significant portion of this work has been

Full scale EnPot testing facilities at Yunca (left) and the Light Metals Research Centre Laboratories (right) enabled the design
performance of the EnPot heat exchanges to be optimized in-house.

ENERGIA Yunca Holdings Limited ASSOCIATED PARTIES Page 17
POTIOR LIMITED
SHAREHOLDERS Established in 1977 by Terry Young, University Of Auckland
Yunca Holdings Ltd has grown
Auckland Uniservices from designing and manufacturing The University of Auckland has
Limited its own domestic home heating been at the forefront of aluminium
appliances in the Young family smelter research since the 1950’s and
Auckland UniServices Limited is garage, to operating internationally has held a tradition of publishing
the commercial research, knowledge with three manufacturing and exemplary postgraduate work. It is
transfer, and custom education engineering plants in New Zealand, acknowledged as one of the top two
company for the University of and one in Goa, India. research institutes in the world for
Auckland - dedicated to connecting Over the past 20 years Yunca has aluminium smelting.
the University’s capabilities to also amassed an impressive resume www.auckland.ac.nz
business and investors, Government of supplying manufacturing,
and the community. In just 25 maintenance,and consulting services Light Metals Research
years UniServices has become to aluminium smelters. Along with Centre
a substantial organisation with the installation of replacement
over 600 employees, working in components, Yunca have completed Light Metal Research Centre
37 countries, and with access to over 1,000,000 hours of work for (LMRC) is a dedicated centre for
many more academic staff from the smelters in New Zealand, Australia light metals research, development
University of Auckland. and the Middle East. and training. It was founded in 2002
www.uniservices.co.nz www.yuncaengineering.com as part of Auckland UniServices Ltd.
The centre has over 20 professional
and doctoral researchers and a
dozen contributing academics from
The University of Auckland.
www.lightmetals.co.nz

About the Author

Dr. Linda Wright has a PhD in Sustainable Waste Management and a BSc (Hons) (1st Class) in Environmental Risk
Management, from the Engineering Department of the University of Wales, Cardiff.
Linda is a Director of One World Consulting Group, which is based in Queenstown, New Zealand.
E M A I L [email protected]


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