EGA completes historic first UAE industrial technology export project

After construction in the Kingdom of Bahrain, EGA’s technology has now passed performance guarantee tests with results exceeding expectations

EGA has been developing its own industrial technology in the UAE for more than 25 years

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced the completion of its historic project to export UAE-developed industrial technology, with the conclusion of performance guarantee tests at Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba).

EGA won a competitive international tender in 2016 to supply its aluminium smelting technology to  Alba for a major expansion project (Line 6 Expansion Project), in a significant milestone for the development of a knowledge-based economy in the UAE.

Alba selected EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology for the Potline 6 Project. DX+ Ultra is the 10^th generation EGA technology, and is amongst the most efficient in the world.

Alba’s new production facility, Potline 6, was inaugurated by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, on Sunday 24 November 2019.

EGA’s technology at Potline 6 has now passed a final performance guarantee test, with results exceeding EGA’s commitments under the technology transfer agreement.

The production capacity of each reduction cell is 11 per cent higher than EGA guaranteed, whilst specific energy consumption – a measure of the electricity required to produce each tonne of aluminium – is one per cent better than promised, a significant reduction in the energy-intensive smelting process.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “The export of EGA’s industrial technology to Alba was historic for our company and for the UAE. I congratulate all the EGA’s technologists who have worked to develop our technology over the years, and the team that was deployed to help implement it in the Kingdom of Bahrain. We are proud that our technology is performing even better than we promised during the commercial negotiations.”

Ali Al Baqali, Alba’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, said: “We selected EGA’s smelting technology because it was the best in the world for our Potline 6. We are also pleased that the performance of EGA’s technology has exceeded our expectations.”

In the performance test at Alba, EGA’s technology operated at 465kA. Specific energy consumption was 12.87 kilowatt hours per kilogramme of aluminium produced.

As part of the technology licensing agreement with Alba, EGA provided experts from its technology development and transfer team and from Operations during the construction of Potline 6. Some 20 EGA technologists participated in the project in total.

EGA also hosted 21 staff from the production and maintenance departments in Alba at its sites in the UAE for hands-on training using EGA’s technology.

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.

ENDS ([XXX] words)

Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae
056 3111 536

About EGA

Emirates Global Aluminium is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

It is the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry, and 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 2018, EGA produced 2.6 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 350 customers in over 60 countries. Over 80 per cent of EGA’s production is value added products, one of the highest proportions of any aluminium company in the world.

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

Over 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. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

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 5,450 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 will supply 40 per cent of EGA’s needs once fully ramped-up.

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

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

© Press Release 2019