Schneider Electric’s Partnership With Glencore Could Revolutionize How Companies Approach Mining Decarbonization

The mining sector, heavily reliant on resource-intensive processes, accounts for around 5% of global emissions each year. However, the industry plays a critical role in enabling the energy transition and securing long-term sustainable growth for organizations across multiple sectors. Demand for critical materials, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt, are necessary for electric batteries, solar panels, semiconductors, and other technologies required for an increasingly electrified and digitized society. It is expected that demand for these metals and materials will increase by nearly 500% by 2050. The challenge for mining companies today revolves around the need to balance emissions reduction expectations, while increasing output of critical minerals and materials. The pressure is on these companies to identify opportunities to decarbonize operations, which, in turn, will reduce the Scope 3 emissions of customers downstream.

Swiss mining company, Glencore, is a leading example of how companies in the mining sector can achieve this through collaboration. In September this year, Schneider Electric announced a partnership with Glencore to transform its copper supply chain and enhance its decarbonization efforts. Glencore will leverage Schneider Electric’s tools, solutions, and expertise to digitize and decarbonize its raw material supply chain and operations.

The Schneider Electric and Glencore partnership is built upon a mutual goal of decarbonizing copper production and ensuring a resilient and sustainable supply. Schneider Electric will benefit from acquiring responsibly sourced raw materials from Glencore for distribution throughout its network of suppliers to European factories. In return, Schneider Electric will assist Glencore by deploying a comprehensive suite of digitization, automation, and electrification solutions and consultancy support to advance Glencore’s global operations and support sustainable practice development. This includes:

• Energy Management System (EMS): Schneider Electric will equip Glencore with an advanced EMS to enable accurate reporting and monitoring of energy consumption to identify energy efficiency and electrification opportunities.
• Automation and Standardization Solutions: Glencore will be supported in the development and deployment of applications for digital twins, central control, and predictive analytics for energy management and process automation systems. Schneider Electric’s Industrial Digital Transformation Consulting team will also assist Glencore in developing its Information Technology (IT)/Operational Technology (OT) Corporate Standards.
• Sustainable Procurement of Capital Equipment: Using best practices from Schneider Electric’s Zero Carbon Project, an initiative to facilitate the exchange of expert industry knowledge and critical resources for carbon reduction, Schneider Electric will help Glencore develop low-carbon and high-efficiency procurement specifications for capital equipment. Glencore hopes to establish new industry standards of sustainable procurement among mining companies.
• Reduced Carbon Footprint of Copper Production: Industrial digital transformation technologies, including AVEVA’s PI System and ETAP energy simulation software will provide Glencore with process analytics and power distribution optimization capabilities, providing it with the tools to lower the carbon intensity of material production.
• Increased Circularity of Raw Materials: Schneider Electric is an existing partner of Li-Cycle, a Glencore-owned company focusing on recycling lithium-ion batteries. The partnership agreement also outlines plans to develop a copper and electronic waste take-back program to return materials to Glencore for recycling, closing the loop in material consumption.

In addition to its work with Glencore, in April 2024, Schneider Electric also launched its Materialize program, an initiative designed to support metals and minerals companies in reducing Scope 3 emissions across their supplier base. The program unites leading materials mining organizations and guides them on renewable energy procurement, supply chain engagement, and other decarbonizations strategies. Materialize is the latest addition to a growing portfolio of Schneider Electric’s supply chain decarbonization programs, joining Energize for the pharmaceutical industry and Catalyze for the semiconductor industry.

Other global technology leaders like ABB are also demonstrating their devotion to support decarbonizing mining operations. ABB’s eMine initiative promotes electrifying mines from design to operation, focusing on delivering all-electric mine vehicles and systems, while leveraging digital solutions to optimize operations and energy consumption.

As the world continues to transition to net-zero operations and scale up clean technologies, the sustainable procurement of an exponentially growing demand for metals and minerals will become an increasingly pressing concern. The collaboration between Schneider Electric and Glencore underscores the commitment of both companies to decarbonize the mining sector and emphasizes the importance of digital transformation for revolutionizing sustainable mine operations. The partnership also showcases the necessity for collaboration to bring together the expertise of technology providers and industry leaders to drive change.

Glencore reported that lowering emissions had previously been a challenge due to the complexity of its supply chains. By leveraging technologies from Schneider Electric, the company has been able to create operational efficiencies and close the material loop. Glencore’s adoption of cutting-edge electrification and digitalization technologies sets a precedent for the sector. To ensure industry-wide decarbonization, initiatives and programs such as these must be implemented by all companies as continuous electrification and digitization will be critical to significantly reducing emissions in the industry.