Aurubis plant in Hamburg, Germany, to resume operations after maintenance shutdown

Aurubis completed what it says is its largest maintenance shutdown in company history at its site in Hamburg, Germany, July 11, which included installing hydrogen-ready anode furnaces and expanding carbon-free industrial heat.

Approximately 500 individual tasks were completed during the maintenance shutdown, with the company spending roughly 95 million euros, or $10.3 million. These tasks included inspecting the waste heat boiler, overhauling the flash smelter and installing heat exchangers in the contact acid plant, according to the company, which also installed a tap-hold drill and tamping machine to automate slag tapping in copper production, improving safety.

Roughly 2,000 people were involved in the large-scale project, including 1,500 workers from partner companies, suppliers and service providers, Aurubis says.

“We executed all the shutdown tasks with the highest quality—a technical and logistical tour de force, given the extreme complexity of the shutdown,” Aurubis Chief Transformation Officer Markus Kramer says.

“Occupational health and safety were top priorities during the shutdown, as they are in regular operations. And we effectively ensured a safe working environment with a comprehensive concept, clear rules and good communication.”

Hamburg Aurubis Plant Manager Michael Jordan says safe and reliable production now will resume at the site.

During its 2022 and recent shutdowns, Aurubis, which is headquartered in Hamburg, realized extensive investments in plant equipment along with numerous digitalization and automation measures that will help the company achieve significantly higher efficiency and stability in production and allow it to again extend the frequency of its planned maintenance shutdowns from two to three years.

The company also executed two strategic sustainability projects during the shutdown, swapping out its anode furnaces, equipment essential for copper refining, with new, innovative furnaces that are hydrogen-ready. They can be fueled with hydrogen instead of natural gas and will only emit water vapor, eliminating carbon dioxide as a byproduct, Aurubis says, on its path to carbon-neutral production well before 2050. By using only hydrogen as a reduction agent at the Hamburg site, this 40 million euros, or $43.6 million, investment will allow the company to prevent at least 5,000 tons of CO₂ per year, further reducing the carbon footprint of its copper, which Aurubis says is already well below the industry average.

“This strategic investment represents another milestone along our path towards carbon neutrality and demonstrates at the Hamburg site that as an industry, we are an important part of the solution for accelerating decarbonization,” Aurubis CEO Roland Harings says. “Aurubis is a pioneer for sustainable solutions in the sector—as we have clearly demonstrated by expanding carbon-free industrial heat for the households of Hamburg.”

Aurubis also invested approximately 100 million euros, or $108.9 million, to lay the technical groundwork for feeding more carbon-free industrial heat into Hamburg’s district heating network, a joint project with the Hamburg Energiewerken utility company that received funding from the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The company says it has been supplying heat since 2018. With the addition of the second stage, the multimetal company can heat a total of up to 28,000 households in Hamburg as of the 2024/25 heating period. The anticipated heat volume makes this the largest industrial heat project in Germany, avoiding up to 120,000 tons of CO₂ in the city of Hamburg every year, Aurubis says.