Pensana has formed a working group with Equinor New Energy Limited, a prominent energy supplier, to share technical and commercial information in order to create a low-energy approach for recycling end-of-life magnets at Pensana’s rare earth hub in Saltend Chemical Park.
Pensana’s commitment to the circular economy is bolstered by its relationship with Equinor, which aims to recycle 4,000 tonnes of end-of-life permanent magnets annually. Recycling permanent magnets using hydrogen as a reductant rather than a fuel, while benefiting from Saltend’s decarbonized power supply, provides a clean alternative that uses 88 percent less energy than virgin magnet manufacturing and aligns with Pensana’s ongoing efforts to create a sustainable supply chain for these critical materials.
Equinor has entered step two of the Government’s Cluster Sequencing Process with plans for the ‘Hydrogen to Humber (H2H) Saltend’ hydrogen generating plant. The plant will be aided by the possibility of supplying hydrogen to Pensana and other area hydrogen customers, which might be a global first and a catalyst for the Humber to attain net-zero emissions.
“At Saltend Chemicals Park, we’re building a world-class, independent, and sustainable rare earth processing complex.” We’re also investigating exploiting hydrogen’s characteristics as a potent reductant to process end-of-life magnets from wind turbine nacelles. We are extremely excited to cooperate with Equinor to build this novel process route as a crucial component in the circular economy for rare earth magnets in the UK, utilizing hydrogen from the H2H Saltend project.”
