Key facts
- Prysmian and Rio Tinto are partnering to supply electrical cables made with low-carbon aluminum for an Amazon data center in Ohio.
- The cables will use aluminum produced with ELYSIS inert-anode technology, which eliminates direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting process.
- This project is the first known use of inert-anode-smelted aluminum in a data center.
- Prysmian will manufacture the cables at its Sedalia, Missouri facility.
- The initiative supports Amazon Web Services' 2040 net zero target.
Italian cable maker Prysmian announced on Friday a partnership with Rio Tinto to supply electrical cables made with low-carbon aluminum for an Amazon data center located in Ohio. The cables will incorporate aluminum produced using ELYSIS's inert-anode technology, a process that replaces traditional carbon anodes with proprietary materials, thereby eliminating direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting stage and releasing pure oxygen instead.
This project represents the first known instance of inert-anode-smelted aluminum being utilized in a data center, highlighting a method to reduce the carbon footprint of such facilities at the raw material level. Prysmian will manufacture these specialized cables at its facility in Sedalia, Missouri. The initiative builds upon a collaboration between Prysmian and Rio Tinto that was initially announced in March 2026. Joern Tinnemeyer, Vice President of Data Center Engineering at Amazon Web Services (AWS), connected this effort to the company's broader goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2040.
Rio Tinto and Prysmian have a five-year supply agreement signed in 2023. This agreement leverages their combined technologies and research and development capabilities to accelerate the introduction of lower-carbon aluminum solutions for various applications, including energy transmission and data centers. According to CRU, the data center sector accounted for approximately 7% of total North American cable demand in 2025 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 17% from 2026 to 2030. CRU also anticipates that aluminum will capture an increasing share of the data center cable market as operators seek more cost-effective power distribution solutions.