Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) started up the first section of an expansion project in potline 1 at its Al Taweelah aluminum smelter.
“This project to expand our production at Al Taweelah is part of our ongoing debottlenecking of production and investment in high return growth opportunities,” said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA. “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.”
The first section of expansion includes the start up of 26 new reduction cells, which will increase by about 30,000 tonnes of aluminum per year. In total, the project will involve the construction of 66 new reduction cells to extend all the potlines at the Al Taweeklah site in order to increase production by around 78,000 tonnes per year.
All of the new reduction cells will use EGA’s proprietary aluminum smelting technology. The cells in potline 1 and 2 will be DX technology, while the cells in potline 3 will be DX+ Ultra technology.
EGA has been developing its own technology in the UAE for more than 25 years. This technology has been recognized as being among the most energy efficient in the world. In 2016, EGA licensed and exported its DX+ Ultra technology to Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), which started up in 2020. The company also signed agreements with NEO Aluminio in Colombia and INALUM in Indonesia, in which EGA will supply DX technologies for the construction of new aluminum smelters within those countries.
The overall project completion stands at 70% and remains on schedule despite the challenges of COVID-19. Some 950 people are currently working on the Al Taweelah smelter expansion project, with over 2.1 million hours of work completed so far with world-class safety performance. There have been zero injuries leading to time off work.
The start-up of the expansion of Al Taweelah’s potline 2 and then potline 3 will take place later this year.