United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, Mubadala and Dubal Holding today officially broke ground on a new AED 1 billion state-of-the-art power block at EGA’s Jebel Ali smelter in Dubai. EGA is the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, and is jointly owned by Mubadala Investment Company and Dubal Holding.

The ground-breaking ceremony was held in the presence of His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Dubal Holding and Vice Chairman of EGA, and Khaled Al Qubaisi, EGA Board member and Chief Executive Officer of Aerospace, Renewables & ICT at Mubadala.

The new, highly-efficient power facility is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from EGA’s power generation at Jebel Ali by some 10 per cent. Emissions reductions per tonne of aluminium produced at Jebel Ali, which includes both power generation and aluminium smelting, are expected to be up to seven per cent.

Mubadala and Dubal Holding have formed a joint venture to develop the new power facility. EGA intends to buy the facility’s output for 25 years following commissioning.

Siemens is to install the UAE’s first combined cycle H-class gas turbine at the power block. The project is also the first in the global aluminium industry to use a Siemen’s H-class gas turbine, a leading technology in efficient power generation.

His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Dubal Holding and Vice Chairman of EGA, said: “This project reinforces our sustainable development journey, as well as our support of one of the UAE’s most vital industries, in line with the vision and 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 promote the UAE leading position globally. This is done through ambitious initiatives and sustainable development projects that are highly efficient in power generation and water desalination that support the objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071, which outlines the path for a brighter future for generations to come by making the UAE the best country in the world. Now we have broken ground, we look forward to developing this project successfully.”

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “We are pleased to break ground on this important project which will improve our power generation efficiency at Jebel Ali, saving costs and environmental emissions. We are now focused on safe construction and ultimately starting up the new power block in line with our plans.”

Once the new power block is commissioned, five older, smaller and less efficient turbines at EGA Jebel Ali will be put on standby for use only in emergencies.

The project is expected to reduce EGA’s NOx emissions at Jebel Ali by 58 per cent. NOx, which is also emitted by motor vehicles, is amongst a group of emissions targeted for reductions under ‘UAE Vision 2021’ to improve local air quality.

EGA requires electricity for aluminium smelting and other industrial operations, and has captive power plants at both Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 5,450 megawatts. In 2018, EGA produced 2.64 million tonnes of cast metal.