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Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) commissioned its Potline 6 within 23 months, beating the average of 30 months for other similar industrial projects, thus becoming one of the fastest expansion projects to be ever commissioned in the aluminium industry, said Alba’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa today, 29 December 2019.
Adding further, Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa stated:
“We are also very pleased to have completed Line 6 construction with a CAPEX less than US$4,000 per metric tonne of aluminium produced, which is lower than the average CAPEX of other projects in the industry.”
Further, Alba is also pleased to state that selected pots in Potline 6 passed the final performance tests with results exceeding the guarantees under the Technology Transfer Agreement between Alba and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA).
Alba had chosen EGA’s proprietary DX+ Ultra Technology for Potline 6 to boost its metal production. The DX+ Ultra Technology was originally committed to operate at 460kA, (as per the contractual terms with EGA); however, Potline 6 is currently operating successfully at 465kA (5kA above the original design) when the current efficiency achieved is 95% with energy consumption standing at 12.87 kilowatt hours per kg of aluminium produced. In addition, Potline 6 outperformed some of the other EGA-guaranteed parameters - the production capacity of each reduction cell is 11% higher while energy consumption is 1% better.
On this achievement, Alba’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali said:
“We are very proud of our team for establishing a new benchmark for potline start-up in the industry as we have managed to start about 4.5 pots per day at some point then reaching a peak of 8 pots per day.
We thank EGA for being our technology provider for Alba’s Potline 6 as well as the exceptional results of the final performance guarantee tests. Utilising EGA’s DX+ Ultra - one of the most efficient technologies in the world – has contributed to reduce overall Green House Gas emissions, which is in line with our sustainability objectives towards the environment.”
Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, added: “We are very pleased to have been chosen as the technology provider for Alba’s Potline 6 - a landmark project in the Middle East. We are also equally delighted to have gone beyond our commitments in the final performance tests, which speaks volumes about the reliability and performance of EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology.”
Alba had selected EGA’s DX+ technology for Line 6 Bankable Feasibility Study in 2014 then later on upgrading to EGA’s DX+ Ultra Technology in February 2016.
-Ends-
About Alba
Bahrain was the first country in the Arab region to start an aluminium smelter. Starting-out as a 120,000 metric tonne per annum (mtpa) smelter in 1971, Alba today is a 1-plus million-metric tonnes smelter. Alba’s product portfolio comprises high-grade aluminium and Value-Added Products that include standard and T-ingots, extrusion billets, rolling slabs, properzi ingots and molten aluminium
Alba is listed on both the Bahrain Bourse and London Stock Exchange, and the Company’s shareholders are Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (69.38%), SABIC Industrial Investment Company (20.62%) and the General Public (10%).
Entering its fifth decade of commercial operations, Alba is rightly regarded as a pioneer in the industrial history of both - the Gulf region and Bahrain - carving an enviable reputation in Safety, Employee Development and sustainable operations.
About Line 6 Expansion Project
Alba’s Line 6 Expansion Project was inaugurated by His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa the King of the Kingdom of Bahrain on 24 November 2019. Line 6 Expansion Project has made Alba the world’s largest smelter ex-China. Potline 6 will boost Alba’s per-annum production by 540,000 metric tonnes, bringing Alba’s total production capacity to 1.54 million metric tonnes per year.
With a CAPEX of approximately US$3 billion, the Line 6 Expansion Project was the largest brownfield expansion in the region. The Project comprised: construction of sixth pot line utilising EGA’s proprietary DX+ Ultra Technology, a 1,792 MW Power Station (Power Station 5) and other industrial services.
Bechtel was the EPCM contractor for the Line 6 Expansion Project smelter. For Power Station 5 (PS5), GE and GAMA Consortium was awarded the EPC contract, while Siemens was the Power Distribution System contractor.
Alba started 106 pots in Line 6 on 26 March 2019 followed by another 106 pots on 18 April 2019. Alba Potline 6 was commissioned on 13 December 2018 with the delivery of the First Hot Metal ahead of its schedule. Alba also announced an achieved savings of more than US$370 million in the execution of Potline 6 – corresponding to 16% savings of its allotted budget.
The Line 6 Expansion Project achieved a total of 60,893,000 working-hours without Lost Time Injury as on 21 November 2019.
One of Bahrain’s flagship asset, the Line 6 Expansion Project will be transformational to Bahrain and its people. Alba will continue to focus on the local and regional downstream cluster and seek opportunities to contribute further to the economic diversification of the Kingdom.
MILESTONES
POWER EXPANSION PROJECT - 2018
Energisation of 33KV Substation 30 May
Energisation of 220 KV Substation 30 September
Alba Gas Station Handover 15 October
Rectifier Energisation 25 October
First Fire of Gas Turbine – Unit 1 30 October
Complete Rectifier Short Circuit Test 03 November
POWER EXPANSION PROJECT - 2019
Commercial Operation Date 1 25 August
Commercial Operation Date 2 26 October
LINE 6 SMELTER - 2018
First Cathode Sealing Operation 31 January
Handover of 1st 36 Pots in Potroom F to operations 25 November
Handover of 1st 36 Pots in Potroom F to operations 25 November
Start Short Circuit Test 26 November
Start Anode Bake Furnace Dry-Out 28 November
First Pot Energisation 13 December
First Green Anode 15 December
First Cold Charge of Furnace 3 in Casthouse 4 26 December
LINE 6 SMELTER - 2019
Successful testing of 40 pots 16 February
Started operations of 106 pots 26 March
Started operations of additional 106 pots 18 April
Start Short Circuit Test (southern 212 pots) 31 May
Safe Start-Up of the last pot (#424) 21 July
Last Hot Metal 31 July
Alba External Grievance Mechanism
Alba, in line with the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank affiliated lending organisation, has launched its External Grievance Mechanism to receive and facilitate the resolution of the affected communities’ concerns and grievances about Alba’s Environment and Social (E&S) performance.
External grievances about Alba’s E&S performance can be logged via the Alba Integrity Line - an independently operated confidential reporting hotline in multiple languages - via a toll-free phone system or via the intranet 24 hours a day, every day.
For further details, please contact:
Eline Hilal
Senior Manager, Investor Relations & Corporate Secretary
Investor Relations Department
Tel: (973) 1783 5100
E-mail: eline.hilal@alba.com.bh
Website: www.albasmelter.com
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