Norway's Elkem invests NOK 260 million to upgrade Furnace No. 5

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Norwegian materials company Elkem has approved an investment of NOK 260 million to upgrade Furnace No. 5 and its associated flue gas system at its Rana plant in northern Norway. The furnace was installed in 1989 and has now reached the end of its operational life. The project is scheduled to begin installation and modernization in the first quarter of 2027, during which the plant's other furnace will continue to operate normally.

The project includes the renewal of key equipment for Furnace No. 5 and its flue gas treatment system, adopting technical solutions developed by Elkem's process engineering team. The scope of the upgrade covers the furnace body, process control, energy utilization, and flue gas treatment systems, while also configuring the process conditions required to increase the proportion of biocarbon raw materials used.

Since commissioning, Furnace No. 5 has produced more than 1.5 million tonnes of ferrosilicon. The Rana plant currently operates two large furnaces with a combined annual output of approximately 80,000 tonnes of ferrosilicon and 15,000 tonnes of microsilica. This upgrade project concerns one of these furnaces, while the other will maintain production during the construction phase.