EGA’s technology passed performance tests in December, following construction and commissioning of ALBA’s new potline

EGA won competitive tender in 2016, making EGA the first UAE industrial company to export its core process technology

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today recognised more than 100 employees who contributed to the success of the company’s historic export of UAE-developed industrial technology to Aluminium Bahrain.

EGA’s Managing Director Abdulla Kalban and Chief Executive Officer Abdulnasser Bin Kalban led the congratulations at a ceremony in Dubai.

EGA won a competitive international tender in 2016 to supply smelting technology to ALBA for its Line 6 expansion project. The win made EGA the first UAE industrial company to license its core process technology internationally and was a landmark in the development of a knowledge-based economy in the UAE.

As part of the technology transfer agreement, EGA provided experts from its Technology Development and Transfer team, as well as from Operations, to support the construction and commissioning of Line 6 in Bahrain.

Some 40 EGA employees worked on the project in Bahrain during the almost three years of construction and commissioning, with dozens more supporting the effort from EGA’s sites in the UAE.

In December, EGA’s technology at Line 6 passed a final performance guarantee test, with results exceeding EGA’s commitments under the technology transfer agreement.

EGA’s Managing Director, Abdulla Kalban, said: “The transfer of EGA’s UAE-developed industrial technology to Bahrain was a major undertaking, requiring many of our staff to spend long periods abroad working hard to meet challenging deadlines, without ever compromising on safety or quality. We are proud of our team’s fantastic work, which catapulted EGA into an elite global league of aluminium companies that earn revenue from their technology innovation as well as their metal. This project was significant not just for EGA, but for the UAE.” 

EGA also invited 21 staff from ALBA’s Production and Maintenance departments to the UAE for hands-on-training using EGA technologies.

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

ALBA selected EGA’s 10th generation technology, DX+ Ultra, which is amongst the most efficient in the global aluminium industry. In the final performance test at ALBA, EGA’s technology operated at 465kA. Specific energy consumption was 12.87 kilowatt hours per kilogramme of aluminium produced.

-Ends-

Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae
056 3111 536
Fatima Al Mutawa
falmutawa@ega.ae
050 327 7545

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 2020

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