Federal Grant Aims To Decarbonize Ravenswood Aluminum Plant

 A U.S. Department of Energy grant will take the carbon dioxide emissions out of an aluminum plant in Jackson County.

The Energy Department will make as much as $75 million available to Constellium to produce aluminum with low or no carbon.

The Ravenswood plant produces aluminum products for aerospace, defense, marine and transportation sectors.

Among other improvements, its furnaces would be able to burn clean hydrogen, which generates no carbon emissions.

Constellium would be among five aluminum facilities nationwide to receive investment.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said the plant will receive another $23 million from the spending bill Congress passed on Friday.

“More investments have come to our state than ever before in our history at one time,” he said. “We’ve got more people interested in coming to West Virginia.”

The Energy Department also plans to locate a new aluminum smelter in Kentucky. It would be the nation’s first in 45 years.

The $75 million comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Manchin had a pivotal role in getting both bills through a divided Congress, though he has criticized the White House about some of its implementation of their provisions.