AM Green and Mitsui & Co have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration and potential investment across a low carbon aluminum value chain, positioning India as a test case for whether renewable powered smelting can scale without eroding cost competitiveness.
At the center of the discussions is AM Green Aluminium Metals and Materials, a wholly owned subsidiary of AM Green, which is developing a vertically integrated platform spanning bauxite mining, alumina refining, and primary aluminum smelting. The company plans to build a one million tonnes per annum primary aluminum smelter alongside two million tonnes per annum of alumina refining and mining capacity. In November 2025, AM Green formalized its ambitions with the Andhra Pradesh government through an MoU to establish a one million tonne per annum green aluminum complex in the state, signaling strong regional backing for energy intensive industrial investment tied to decarbonization.
The technical premise of the project rests on eliminating fossil fuel power from both refining and smelting operations. AM Green plans to operate the facilities using wind and solar generation, with pumped hydro storage providing firm capacity. That configuration is critical, as aluminum smelters require continuous, high load power to avoid operational disruptions. In May 2025, Coal India signed an MoU with AM Green to supply 4.5 gigawatts of renewable power to its businesses, including AM Green Metals, underscoring the scale of clean electricity required to underpin the project.
Under the MoU with Mitsui, the two companies will assess strategic and commercial pathways across the aluminum value chain, including potential equity investment by Mitsui to support the capital requirements of what AM Green describes as the world’s first fully integrated green aluminum production platform. While neither party has disclosed financial terms, the structure reflects a broader trend in which trading houses and industrial investors are seeking early exposure to low carbon materials that could command price premiums as carbon regulation tightens.
Beyond equity participation, the scope of collaboration includes potential offtake of low carbon aluminum and access to associated offtake rights, as well as supply of auxiliary materials required for smelting and refining operations. For Mitsui, which has deep exposure to global metals markets and industrial supply chains, securing long term access to low carbon aluminum could serve both compliance and commercial objectives as automotive, construction, and packaging customers increasingly demand verified emissions reductions.
The strategic logic is clear, but execution risks remain material. Renewable powered aluminum has been demonstrated at smaller scales, notably in regions with abundant hydropower, yet replicating that model with variable wind and solar generation introduces complexity. Pumped hydro can mitigate intermittency, but it adds capital cost and depends heavily on site specific geography. The economics of the Andhra Pradesh project will therefore hinge on the cost of renewable power, storage efficiency, and the ability to operate at high capacity utilization.
AM Green’s broader strategy suggests an attempt to internalize those risks through scale and vertical integration. Mahesh Kolli, founder of Greenko Group and AM Green, has framed the company’s approach as building globally competitive platforms across molecules and materials to enable industrial decarbonization at scale. The partnership with Mitsui fits that narrative by potentially combining domestic renewable assets with international market access and balance sheet strength.
From a market perspective, the timing aligns with rising pressure on aluminum producers to decarbonize. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is expected to raise the cost of carbon intensive aluminum imports, while automakers and electronics manufacturers are increasingly setting supplier emissions targets. Low carbon aluminum supply remains constrained, which could support premiums if verification frameworks and offtake contracts mature in parallel.
Whether AM Green’s model proves competitive will depend less on ambition and more on execution. Delivering one million tonnes per year of aluminum powered entirely by renewables would place the project among the largest low carbon industrial facilities globally. Mitsui’s interest suggests that major trading and investment players see strategic value in testing that proposition now, before regulatory and market forces make low carbon aluminum a necessity rather than a differentiator.
