Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminum, the largest ‘premium aluminum’ producer in the world, and leading American primary aluminum producer Century Aluminum today announced the selection of American firm Bechtel to conduct preparatory engineering for their planned primary aluminum production plant in Inola, Oklahoma.

Bechtel is undertaking the design of the new plant with a strong focus on value improvement, preparing the project for a final investment decision and the start of construction by the end of 2026. The Bechtel team is also defining the technical, infrastructure, and planning requirements to enable new industrial growth in Inola, which will create long-term benefits for local communities across Rogers County and the greater northeast Oklahoma region.

The project will be the first new primary aluminum smelter built in the United States since 1980, and will double current U.S. primary aluminum production. The project will create 1,000 permanent direct jobs at the facility and 4,000 jobs during construction. The plant will be built with EGA’s latest aluminum reduction technology, EX, which is amongst the most advanced and efficient in the world.

As part of its work, Bechtel is exploring modularization and pre-assembly strategies to improve the efficiency of construction on site, and defining logistics to transport materials by road and river while minimizing the impact on local traffic.

Bechtel is working closely with ERM, a leading sustainability consultancy that is coordinating the environmental and social public consultation and permitting process for the project. 

 Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “Building the first American primary aluminum production plant in decades is a transformative project for America’s industrial revival, the strong economic future of Inola and Oklahoma, and for our company. Bechtel, with its leading experience in American industrial projects and aluminum projects around the world, will play a key role in the extensive work ongoing to make this project a reality.

Jesse Gary, Chief Executive Officer of Century Aluminum, said “The selection of Bechtel adds momentum to our project, meeting the urgency of our nation’s needs for this critical metal. We’re proud to mark this milestone with EGA and with Bechtel.”      

Ailie MacAdam, President of Bechtel Mining & Metals, said: “Bechtel has been helping build America’s industrial base for more than a century, and we welcome the opportunity to support this important project in Oklahoma. We are bringing our experience in delivering U.S. megaprojects and our global track record in delivering aluminum facilities to help our customer move forward with confidence.”

Bechtel has built one-third of all new aluminum smelter capacity outside China over the past 25 years and has been a leader in U.S. project delivery since 1898.

EGA and Century Aluminum are developing the Oklahoma project in partnership, with EGA owning 60 per cent and Century Aluminum owning 40%.