St. Nicolas aluminium plant

St. Nicolas aluminium plant is an aluminium smelter in Greece. Its listed capacity is 190,000 t of alumina/aluminum. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment. It is operated by Aluminium de Grèce SA. By capacity it ranks #1 among 2 aluminium smelters in Greece. It emits about 410,921 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 96k passenger cars.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3673067.

In context: how this facility compares

At 190,000 t of alumina/aluminum, St. Nicolas aluminium plant is around the median aluminium smelter in Greece (190,000 t of alumina/aluminum). Subsector: aluminum. As aluminium smelter, it requires high process heat (typically 600–900°C) for its core industrial operations — heat that must be supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion, and losses through uninsulated vessels and piping represent wasted fuel. Removable modular insulation can cut those losses by 80–96%, surface-cooling equipment to ≤45°C, with payback often under 2 years. Aluminium smelters use large electric currents to refine alumina into molten aluminium above 900°C, and the hot metal must flow through crucibles and casting equipment.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 410,921 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest aluminium smelters in Greece

Listed capacity (t of alumina/aluminum), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Aluminium de Grèce SA.

Local climate

St. Nicolas aluminium plant sits in a hot-summer Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen Csa), at 38.4°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

The local climate sets how fast unprotected steel, protective coatings and the insulation on hot process equipment degrade at this site. It sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1358 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.04× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1290 W/m² of that. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #1 largest of 2 aluminium smelters in Greece by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Central Greece Region · Aluminium Smelter · 12,315 t CO₂
• Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refinery · Refinery · 2,450,025 t CO₂
• Pio Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 741,582 t CO₂
• Magoula Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 533,322 t CO₂
• Hellenic Petroleum Elefsina Refinery · Refinery · 1,094,934 t CO₂
• ELVALHALCOR S.A. - ALUMINIUM ROLLING DIVISION · Metals Plant · 114,000 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 38.36221, 22.68981. View on OpenStreetMap.

Heat loss & insulation profile

For a aluminium smelter, the main modular-insulation targets are alumina calciner, casthouse furnaces, hot ducting (electrolysis itself is electric). Typical hot-surface ranges used for screening: 150–1,000 °C.

electrolysis is mostly electricity (Scope 2) + anode process; on-site combustion small - insulation mainly relevant to alumina refining/casthouse.

Indicative recoverable energy

A first-pass insulation screen suggests about 2,000 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 410 t CO₂e/year of avoided emissions. Screening estimate scaled from installed process-heat projects and surface-temperature reduction data.

See Inzonex Modular Insulation → Run the calculator →

Screening calculation from facility class, capacity and open emissions/energy context. Engineering survey required before procurement.

Safety & the no-regret first step

Start with a thermal survey of valves, flanges, doors and bends. Removable modular insulation keeps maintenance access open while lowering exposed-surface temperature and wasted heat.

EU policy pressure on this sector

Obligation

This facility is inside the EU. For thermal equipment, insulation upgrades can support ETS exposure reduction and energy-efficiency compliance.

Sources: EU ETS, CBAM and national energy-efficiency schemes.

Frequently asked questions