Prysmian, Rio Tinto partner to bring low-carbon aluminum to Amazon data center

Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian has announced a partnership with Rio Tinto to supply electrical cables manufactured with low-carbon aluminium for an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center located in Ohio. The specialized cables utilize aluminium produced through ELYSIS inert-anode smelting technology, a process designed to eliminate direct greenhouse gas emissions during smelting by releasing pure oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. This deployment marks the first known commercial use of inert-anode-smelted aluminium in a data center facility, demonstrating that hyperscalers can curb emissions upstream at the raw materials level. Prysmian will produce the finished cables at its manufacturing plant located in Sedalia, Missouri. The project builds directly upon an initial collaboration agreement established between Prysmian and Rio Tinto in March 2026. Amazon executives emphasized that integrating low-carbon infrastructure materials is critical to meeting the tech giant's target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040.