Prysmian is finding another way into the data-center buildout, and this time the story isn’t about fiber. The Italian cable maker has partnered with Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) to supply electrical cables made with low-carbon aluminum for an Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) data center in Ohio. The cables will use aluminum produced with ELYSIS inert-anode technology, which Prysmian says eliminates direct greenhouse-gas emissions from the aluminum-smelting process and releases pure oxygen instead.
For Prysmian investors, the project’s significance lies in the fact that the technology Prysmian and Rio Tinto were developing earlier this year is now being put to use in a data-center project for Amazon.
Bull Case
The Amazon project gives Prysmian’s work with ELYSIS something it didn’t have when the company announced its expanded collaboration with Rio Tinto in March, which is a specific data-center application. Prysmian says this will be the first known use of aluminum produced through inert-anode smelting in a data center, and the cables will be manufactured at its Sedalia, Missouri facility.
The project didn’t emerge from a new supplier relationship either, as Prysmian and Rio Tinto signed a five-year supply agreement in 2023 for low-carbon aluminum produced using renewable hydropower from Rio Tinto’s Canadian operations. They later strengthened the relationship through a joint development agreement before announcing their work with ELYSIS-produced aluminum in March 2026. Data centers were already part of the thinking at that point, as Prysmian said in March that its customers, particularly those in the data-center sector, shared similar sustainability commitments, while Rio Tinto specifically identified the rapidly expanding data-center sector as an area where lower-carbon aluminum could support decarbonization efforts.
Amazon has now provided a concrete example, with AWS Vice President of Data Center Engineering Joern Tinnemeyer linking the Ohio initiative to Amazon’s target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040. The project also fits with targets Prysmian has set for its own business. The company is targeting Net Zero by 2035 and has said it wants sustainability-linked solutions to account for 55% of revenue by 2028.
Bear Case
There is an obvious reason not to get carried away with the announcement, as Prysmian has not provided a contract value or expected revenue contribution of the Amazon project. Without a contract value, volume figure, or expected revenue contribution, there is no basis for arguing that the Ohio data center will materially change Prysmian’s financial performance.
The technology itself also remains at an early stage. When Prysmian announced its ELYSIS work with Rio Tinto in March, it explicitly said ELYSIS-produced aluminum remained in development, and the Amazon project shows that the material can move into a real data-center application, but it doesn’t establish how quickly production can scale. While a first commercial application is evidence of progress, it isn’t the same thing as large-scale adoption.
Investors should also be careful not to turn Amazon’s involvement into a broader demand forecast. Reuters identifies the Ohio project as the first known data-center use of inert-anode-smelted aluminum, but there is no concrete evidence that Amazon plans to deploy these cables across additional data centers.
Conclusion
The Amazon project (NASDAQ:AMZN) gives Prysmian and Rio Tinto’s (NYSE:RIO) low-carbon aluminum partnership a notable first application in the data-center market, which is particularly relevant for Prysmian, given that data centers are already supporting growth in parts of its business.
There are still limits to what investors can read into one project. Its financial value isn’t clear, ELYSIS-produced aluminum is not yet available in large production quantities, and neither company has indicated that Amazon will use the cables more widely. For now, the Ohio project is best viewed as an early test of whether Prysmian and Rio Tinto can turn their low-carbon cable technology into a broader commercial opportunity.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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