UAE-based largest premium aluminum producer, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has announced the start-up of the first phase of its Al Taweelah smelter expansion.
The 26 new reduction cells at Al Taweelah’s potline 1 are now being ramped up to produce 30,000 tonnes of aluminum per year. In total, EGA is constructing 66 new reduction cells at Al Taweelah to expand all three potlines. The project would boost Al Taweelah’s hot metal production potential by 78,000 tonnes per year.
Later this year, the extension to potline 2 and then potline 3 will be turned on. Despite the difficulties of COVID-19, the overall project completion is at 70 percent and on schedule.
Mr. Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer EGA remarked that “this project to expand our production at Al Taweelah is part of our ongoing debottlenecking of production and investment in high return growth opportunities. The world requires aluminum to build back better after COVID-19, and this expansion will enable us to supply even more of the metal we all need.”
950 workers are currently working on the Al Taweelah smelter expansion project, which has already completed over 2.1 million hours of work with world-class safety performance.
The extensions, like all of EGA’s aluminum production lines, make use of the company’s patented aluminum smelting technology, which was developed in the UAE.
EGA’s DX technology is used in the new reduction cells in potlines 1 and 2, while EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology is used in the new reduction cells in potline 3. Both systems are among the world’s most energy-efficient.
For more than 25 years, EGA has been developing its technologies in the UAE. EGA was the first UAE industrial company to license its core process technology globally in 2016 when it sold DX+ Ultra to Aluminium Bahrain.
EGA has signed initial agreements with companies in Indonesia and Colombia that could contribute to the export of EGA technology for the construction of aluminum smelters.
With the addition of the 26 new reduction cells, EGA now has 2,803 reduction cells in both Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah. EGA produces one out of every 25 tonnes of aluminum manufactured worldwide, making it the world’s largest manufacturer of “premium aluminum.”
EGA sold 2.52 million tonnes of cast metal last year. After oil and gas, EGA’s metal is the UAE’s largest export. Local sales help fund a domestic aluminum industry that makes everything from car parts to power transmission cables. The aluminum industry as a whole is one of the largest in the UAE, accounting for 1.4 percent of the economy and supporting 60,000 UAE jobs.
