Aluminium wiring returns to the Russian market

RUSAL announces that aluminium alloys 8030 and 8176 have been successfully approved by Russian authorities for the use in electrical wiring applications. This approval opens up new market opportunities for aluminium.

The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation has approved the order that regulates construction of electrical installations and permits the use of aluminum wiring in buildings and structures.

In 2000, due to the outdated technical specification of electrical wiring, the market regulator imposed a ban on the use of aluminium wiring in the construction of residential and public buildings.

Having analyzed the long-present international practices in cable production for residential, public and industrial buildings, RUSAL's technical specialists have launched the production of 8030 and 8176 alloys at the Kandalaksha and Irkutsk aluminium smelters.

These alloys are subsequently widely used in electrical wiring production in the United States and China.

The new aluminum wiring has the highest level of fire safety which is obtained through the addition of combustion-resistant polymer insulation that does not contain halogens.

The aluminium wiring, manufactured by Irkutskkabel and Kamskiye Cable, has undergone extensive testing in accordance with the current testing methods. Experts from RosElectromontazh Association and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations Research Institute were involved in the evaluation process of the reliability tests.

The cables with the power core made of aluminium alloys 8030 and 8176 have a number of significant advantages in comparison with copper peers, among them being its more favorable price, lower weight and increased flexibility.

Aluminium and its alloys are used in electrical engineering worldwide. The permit received from regulator is a major breakthrough for Russian producers of aluminum wiring on the domestic market and in the CIS countries.