AGC and Saint-Gobain have marked the first anniversary of their reduced-emission Volta glass furnace.
The two companies collaborated to construct the furnace at AGC's Barevka plant in Dubí, Czech Republic, in early 2025.
The Volta pilot furnace has now completed one full year of continuous operation.
The anniversary demonstrates the furnace’s ability to demonstrate hybrid melting for flat glass at an industrial scale.
Since its start-up, the pilot has delivered stable production, providing technological validation of the robustness of the hybrid concept.
Over the year, operational performance fully met design expectations.
Energy consumption, temperature control and float glass quality were confirmed across a wide range of cullet ratios and pull rates.
These results strengthen confidence in the scalability of the concept and support its suitability for future industrial-scale deployment.
The hybrid technology is 50% electrified with certified renewable sourcing, and 50% fired by a combination of oxygen and gas, allowing for a 71% reduction in Scope 1+3 CO₂ emissions (related to gas and raw materials only, according to Innovation Fund accounting).
The furnace also uses 88% of cullet in standard operation compared with 40% previously.
These energy-efficient aspects also deliver a 66% reduction in fossil fuel consumption.
Moving toward large-scale deployment will require substantial investment.
The companies’ focus for the next phase of development remains achieving an economically optimal balance between electricity and gas.
The Volta project is funded by the Innovation Fund of the European Union.
