Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE and the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminum’ producer, has signed an agreement to supply CelestiAL solar aluminum to Mercedes-Benz parts maker Hammerer Aluminum Industries (HAI).
The agreement will see EGA’s CelestiAL metal return to the UAE, as well as being distributed all over the world. EGA supplies thousands of tons of aluminum to the Austria-based HAI each year. A proportion of this supply will now switch to CelestiAL.
EGA aims to significantly expand CelestiAL production as part of an initiative with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Dubal Holding and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) to divest its electricity generation assets and source power from the grid, including an increasing proportion of clean energy.
Abdulnasser bin Kalban CEO – EGA
“The launch of EGA’s CelestiAL solar aluminum was a landmark in our industry’s drive to net zero. We expect to soon be able to increase production of CelestiAL, and meet more of the significant global demand for this innovative, low-carbon metal. We are proud that HAI, and their customers like Mercedes-Benz AG, will use aluminum made with the power of the UAE sun.”
The new steady power demand from EGA would increase the predictability of the overall power system, and advance EWEC’s development of new solar energy projects. The scale of the expansion is expected to be greater than the current total installed solar generation capacity in the UAE and EGA would utilize this additional solar power once it is developed.
Mr. Rob van Gils, CEO of HAI, said that “This partnership with EGA enables us to contribute to a better future and shows that aluminum has a key role to play in achieving the European Union’s Green Deal ambitions to decarbonize manufacturing. I am personally excited that many parts of the premium SUVs which are so popular in the UAE will be produced by HAI using EGA’s UAE-made CelestiAL solar aluminum. I look forward to driving these vehicles on the UAE’s sand dunes.”
