Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine at heart of new facility, in first use in global aluminium industry

Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, Mubadala Investment Company and Dubal Holding today announced the completion of the UAE’s most-efficient power plant, which will significantly improve environmental performance at EGA in Jebel Ali.

A ceremony to mark the completion was attended by His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of EGA and Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority; Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Board member of EGA and Chief Executive Officer of UAE Investments at Mubadala Investment Company; EGA Managing Director Abdulla Kalban and Chief Executive Officer Abdulnasser Bin Kalban; and Karim Amin, Executive Vice President Generation, Siemens Energy.

The AED 1 billion state-of-the-art power plant is built around a Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine, the first in the UAE and in the global aluminium industry, with a generation capacity of some 600 megawatts. The new power plant further improves the efficiency of power generation at EGA, saving natural resources and reducing costs and environmental emissions. Five older, less efficient turbines at EGA are being put on standby for use only in emergencies.

His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of EGA, said: “Completion of this project at EGA is in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces to make the UAE a global leader in sustainability. The new power plant at EGA is considered one of the plants with high operational efficiency and an important step towards enhancing environmental sustainability.”

Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Board member of EGA and CEO of UAE Investments at Mubadala, said: “The successful completion of this project is a testament to the focus we have placed on improving EGA’s cost position while reducing its emissions, which further cements the importance we place on addressing key Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. We are proud of the EGA’s resilience and the team’s ability to deliver this project safely and under budget despite challenging circumstances presented by the pandemic.”

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA said: “Despite COVID-19, this project was completed on time and, most importantly, safely. We now have on our site the most efficient power plant in the UAE, which will significantly reduce our environmental emissions as well as lowering our costs. This plant will deliver value to EGA and to the nation for many years to come.”

Karim Amin, Executive Vice President Generation, Siemens Energy, said: “This project, equipped with Siemens Energy’s H-class technology, created a new benchmark in the aluminium industry by significantly improving reliability and efficiency of energy generation whilst lowering emissions and costs at the same time. We are proud that our innovative solutions will help to drive decarbonisation in the UAE's industrial sector and are looking forward to many more years of collaboration with EGA, Mubadala, and Dubal Holding.”

The new power block is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions from EGA's power-generation and aluminium-smelting operations at Jebel Ali by some 10 percent, the equivalent of planting more than 17 million trees each year. NOx emissions are expected to decrease by as much as 58 percent. NOx is also emitted by motor vehicles, and the new power block is equivalent to removing more than 850,000 cars from Dubai’s roads.

The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 aims to reduce the carbon footprint of power generation in the UAE by 70 per cent, and increase energy efficiency by 40 per cent.

Construction of the new power block took some 12.8 million hours of work equivalent to one person working more than 6,000 years, with a workforce of 3,778 at peak in November last year. The project was completed with a world-class safety record, and zero injuries leading to time off work.

EGA requires electricity for aluminium smelting and other industrial operations, and is the largest power generator in the country after the Dubai and Abu Dhabi utilities with a similar generating capacity to New Zealand.

Siemens Energy is a leading global energy technology company, operating along almost the entire energy value chain. Siemens Energy was spun off from Siemens in 2020 as an independent company with around 91,000 employees and operations in more than 90 countries.

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 2020, EGA sold 2.52 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 recent years over 80 per cent of EGA’s production has been value added products, one of the highest proportions of any aluminium company in the world. In 2020, value added products made up 72 per cent of total sales despite EGA’s flexing of its product mix in response to fluctuating market demand caused by COVID-19’s impact on world manufacturing.

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. 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 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 supplies 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 

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