• New power plant at EGA in Jebel Ali developed by JA Power & Water Co, a joint venture formed by Mubadala and Dubal Holding
• Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine at heart of new facility, in first use in global aluminium industry

United Arab Emirates, 26 September 2021: 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.