Can buyers call Samalaju aluminium low carbon because the smelters run on hydropower?
For the product footprint, yes if the smelter shows its electricity really comes from hydropower and gives a cradle to gate figure that includes alumina. For CBAM it changes nothing: electricity is not charged for aluminium, so the certificates depend on anode and perfluorocarbon emissions only.
What hydropower changes
Smelting electricity is the biggest part of primary aluminium's footprint, so a smelter supplied by hydropower plants can show a much lower cradle to gate figure than one on a coal grid.
What to ask for
- The power supply contract or plant link that shows where the electricity comes from.
- A cradle to gate figure per tonne that includes the alumina, which is imported and often made with coal or oil.
- Anode and perfluorocarbon emissions, which count under CBAM.
What not to claim
Do not call the metal zero carbon. Anodes, perfluorocarbons, alumina and casting fuel still emit.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads anode, fuel and electricity invoices into a dated, fingerprinted record per site, so a buyer can see which inputs sit behind each figure. Factors outside India are entered from the official source and labelled.
Sources: CBAM Regulation (EU) 2023/956, consolidated, GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org)
Last reviewed 2026-10-21.