United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced the company has successfully started up DX+ Ultra reduction cell technology with a modified lining at 500kA, the first time this amperage has been achieved in the Middle East.

In aluminium smelting, increasing amperage offers the potential to increase aluminium production, reducing the cost per tonne of building new reduction cells and improving the productivity of existing ones. The challenge is to maintain heat and magnetic stability within the reduction cell as amperage increases.

The 500kA milestone was achieved in EGA’s Eagle research and development section in Jebel Ali. It is part of feasibility work to prepare for the potential upgrade of 458 reduction cells at EGA’s potline 3 in Al Taweelah, which has 444 DX+ and 14 DX+ Ultra pots.

Pushing amperage to 500 kA is expected to boost production by five per cent compared to the current maximum operating amperage in EGA.

DX+ Ultra is EGA’s latest fully-industrialised technology. In addition to potline 3 at Al Taweelah, DX+ Ultra was licensed to Aluminium Bahrain for the construction of the Bahraini company’s potline 6 expansion project which began production in 2018.

Chief Executive Officer of EGA, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, said: “Reaching 500kA for the first time is a great achievement and I congratulate our Research & Development team who are continuously improving the performance of our proprietary smelting technologies as we strive towards being a technology pathfinder for our industry in the decades ahead. In addition to supporting production creep in Al Taweelah, this work also contributes to the ongoing Press Press release

development of our next generation technology which promises a further step change in performance both for EGA and our technology customers.”

EGA has developed its own aluminium smelting technology in the UAE for more than 25 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s, and has retrofitted all its older production lines.

EGA has agreements with companies from Indonesia to Colombia which could lead to further international licensing of EGA technology.

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Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae

About EGA

Since 1975, when it was founded as Dubai Aluminium by His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Global Aluminium has been innovating aluminium to make modern life possible.

Today EGA is the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry.

EGA is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.

EGA is an integrated aluminium producer, with operations from bauxite mining to the production of cast primary aluminium. EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea.

EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2021, EGA sold 2.54 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.

EGA has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. In 2021, value-added products accounted for 84 per cent of EGA’s cast metal sales.

EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.

Around 10 per cent of EGA’s aluminium production is sold in the UAE to around 26 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports 60,950 jobs. EGA itself employs over 7,000 of these people including almost 1,200 UAE Nationals.

EGA has focused on technology development for over 25 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.

As a corporate citizen of the UAE, EGA aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry. In 2019, EGA’s Al Taweelah site became the first in the Middle East to receive certification from ASI for its sustainability practices and performance. EGA’s Jebel Ali site was certified in 2021. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

In 2021, EGA began production of CelestiAL solar aluminium, produced with solar power from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park on the outskirts of Dubai. EGA is the first company in the world to make aluminium commercially using the power of the sun.

EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.

EGA’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production as DUBAL in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, this site is five times bigger than Dubai Mall.

EMAL started production in 2009 and its Al Taweelah aluminium smelter was the largest single-site aluminium smelter in the world when completed. EGA’s Al Taweelah site is five times bigger than Al Maryah Island at six square kilometres.

EGA has its own power stations at both sites, producing electricity to meet its needs. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 6,474 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai and Abu Dhabi utilities. EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants.

EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery in April 2019. EGA’s alumina refinery is the first in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East. The project reduces the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and supplies over 40 per cent of EGA’s needs.

Bauxite exports from Guinea Alumina Corporation, EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Guinea, began in August 2019. The GAC project was one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in over 40 years.

For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae