Ohio Data Center Becomes First Known Site to Deploy Oxygen-Emitting Aluminum Cable Technology

Prysmian, Rio Tinto, and Amazon have quietly redrawn the boundaries of what low-carbon construction looks like inside a data center, installing electrical cables made from aluminum smelted without producing a single unit of direct greenhouse gas emissions at an Amazon facility in Ohio.

The Technology at the Core of the Project

At the heart of the collaboration is ELYSIS, a proprietary smelting process developed by Rio Tinto that replaces the carbon anodes used in conventional aluminum production with alternative materials. Traditional smelting relies on carbon anodes that generate carbon dioxide and perfluorocarbons during the reduction process. The ELYSIS method eliminates those direct emissions entirely, producing pure oxygen as its sole byproduct.

All of the aluminum Rio Tinto supplied for the project was produced in Quebec, Canada, where the smelting operation is powered by hydropower, pairing renewable electricity with an emissions-free smelting method. Prysmian manufactures the finished electrical cables at its plant in Sedalia, Missouri. From there, distribution and delivery to the Amazon data center site is handled by Wesco, Prysmian's distribution partner on the project.

Where Each Company Fits in the Supply Chain

The collaboration is structured around distinct roles. Rio Tinto occupies the raw materials position, producing the low-carbon aluminum in Quebec. Prysmian converts that aluminum into finished cables at its Missouri manufacturing facility. Wesco manages logistics and delivery to the project site. Amazon is the end customer, incorporating the cables into its Ohio data center infrastructure. Matt Schicke, Rio Tinto Aluminum Vice President of Sales and Marketing, said the collaboration illustrates how innovation distributed across a value chain can produce practical, lower-carbon outcomes for end customers.

He described the combination of renewable hydropower and a smelting process that eliminates direct greenhouse gas emissions as opening a new pathway for decarbonizing critical data center infrastructure. Srinivas Siripurapu, Chief Sustainability, Research and Development, and Innovation Officer for Prysmian, said the data center industry requires advanced technologies capable of carrying power effectively, meeting high-quality standards, and contributing positively to the sustainability of the entire value chain. He characterized the project as the product of working with organizations that share a commitment to sustainability-driven innovation at every stage of supply.

David Speidelsbach, Vice President of Sales and Strategic Initiatives at Wesco, said the project demonstrates what becomes possible when manufacturers, distributors, and end users collaborate to accelerate innovation, and pointed to sustainable supply chain solutions that reduce material waste and support circularity.

Amazon's Position and the Rationale for Acting Now

Joern Tinnemeyer, Vice President of Data Center Engineering at Amazon Web Services, said aluminum production has historically been a carbon-intensive process, but that the wire installed in this Ohio project was made using a technology that emits oxygen rather than carbon dioxide and perfluorocarbons. He stated that lower-carbon materials are no longer a concept reserved for the future and pointed to their active deployment inside Amazon data centers as evidence.

Amazon Web Services has stated a goal of reaching net-zero emissions across its operations by 2040, with a strategy that includes decarbonizing its supply chain down to the level of raw materials. The Ohio installation is positioned by the company as a demonstration that this ambition can be pursued through decisions being made today, using technology that already exists and supply relationships that are already in place.

A Project Built on an Earlier Foundation

The Ohio deployment did not emerge without prior groundwork. In March 2026, Prysmian and Rio Tinto announced a partnership that introduced aluminum building wire produced using the ELYSIS process.

The data center project, announced on September 18, 2026, represents the first time that technology has been deployed specifically within data center infrastructure, marking a step beyond the earlier building wire application into a sector facing intense scrutiny over its environmental footprint. The participants describe the Ohio installation as the first known use of inert-anode-smelted aluminum in any data center facility anywhere.

Why Data Centers Have Become a Target for Material Decarbonization

The initiative arrives against a backdrop of accelerating investment in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the physical infrastructure that supports both. That expansion has generated substantial demand for electrical components, including the wiring and cable systems that run throughout each facility.

The companies involved argue that meaningful reductions in the carbon footprint of data center construction require intervention at the raw materials level, not only at the point of energy consumption or cooling system design.

Aluminum is among the most widely used conductive materials in electrical systems, yet its role in data center sustainability discussions has historically received less attention than energy sourcing or thermal management. By focusing on aluminum as the intervention point, the collaboration targets an embedded carbon source that has largely gone unaddressed in the sector.

Prysmian has set a target of net-zero Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2035 and has also established a goal of having more than 55 percent of its revenues be sustainability-linked by 2028. The Ohio project is described by all parties as a concrete demonstration that those commitments can translate into operational decisions at an active construction site, using available technology rather than depending on future innovation.