CBAM Is Pricing Anode Effects. Are Your Pots Ready?

From 1 January 2026, CBAM stops being a reporting exercise and becomes a direct cost driver for Aluminium smelters exporting to Europe.

What matters most is not intention, but measured and verified emissions.

In primary Aluminium production, Scope 1 emissions are largely driven by:

• Anode effects
• Pot instability
• Poor alumina feed control
• Sub-optimal aluminium fluoride dosing

Every avoidable anode effect and every instability event now translates directly into:

• Higher embedded emissions
• More CBAM certificates required per tonne
• Weaker positioning in the market for low-carbon Aluminium

The good news: Scope 1 emissions can be reduced today, without requiring a full technology overhaul or waiting for future solutions.

Bathco, together with its technology arm Metsol, offers a proven Advanced Process Control system (APC+) that directly tackles the operational drivers of Scope 1 emissions. APC+ manages pot voltage, alumina feeding, and aluminium fluoride dosing using proprietary algorithms fully integrated into existing PLC and SCADA systems.

 

What APC+ delivers in practice:

• 50% reduction in anode effects
• 1% current efficiency improvement
• 0.2 MWh per tonne power savings
• Industrial-scale deployment with short payback 

Why this matters now:

• Smelters reduce Scope 1 PFC emissions and lower CBAM exposure per tonne
• Electricity consumption decreases, improving readiness for power modulation and flexibility schemes
• EU buyers gain access to metal that helps manage their own carbon costs

 

CBAM is accelerating a structural shift. Operational performance at potline level is becoming a commercial differentiator.

Reducing Scope 1 emissions is no longer only about climate. It is about protecting margins.

 

More here:
https://bathco.ch/technology-solutions/