EGA completes smelter expansion

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) on Sunday announced the completion of an expansion to the company’s Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi.

The expansion added 66 new reduction cells in total to the three potlines at Al Taweelah, boosting production capacity by some 78,000 tonnes of hot metal per year at one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world.

All the new reduction cells have been built using EGA technology developed in the UAE. EGA has used its own technology in every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines.

Abdulnasser bin Kalban, EGA Chief Executive Officer, said, “The completion of this expansion project adds to our production capacity amid strong demand for aluminium as the world builds back better from COVID-19. The expansion was delivered below budget and on schedule, and with zero injuries leading to time of work.

“All 2,843 reduction cells at EGA use our own efficient technology developed in the UAE, an important source of competitive advantage and pride for us as a leader in the global aluminium industry.” The expansion to Al Taweelah was completed in three phases. The first phase was commissioned in April, and the second in July. The final phase saw the installation of 14 new reduction cells at Potline 3.

EGA has developed its own aluminium smelting technology for more than 25 years.

Meanwhile earlier the Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today published its fourth annual sustainability report.

The report details EGA’s environmental, social and governance performance in the UAE and the Republic of Guinea in 2020.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “Aluminium has an essential role to play in the development of a more sustainable society, and it also matters how sustainably aluminium is made.