GE Energy receives $500 million Emal contract

GE Energy has received a contract of more than $500 million (Dh1.837 billion) to supply equipment to power the world's largest aluminum processing complex at a single site.

The Emirates Aluminum (Emal) production facility is located near Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi.

Using natural gas as its primary fuel, the power plant will feature Frame 9FA gas turbines, C7 steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators and condensers, all provided by GE Energy.

When phase one of the project is complete, the site will have an installed capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity to be used in the production of 700,000 tonnes of aluminum per annum.

Total production capacity during phase two will reach 1.4 million tonnes of aluminum, providing an example of technological advancement in the UAE as well as a cornerstone for the ongoing development of the region's industrial sector.

SNC-Lavalin of Canada and Worley Parsons of Australia have formed a joint partnership and have agreed to serve as the engineering, procurement and construction management contractors for the project.

"Gulf states including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman are investing billions of dollars to build smelters, utilising the region's abundant and relatively inexpensive natural gas as a primary source for power generation," said Joseph Anis, GE Energy's region executive for the Middle East.

"Over the past year we have seen a growing number of opportunities in the Middle East and worldwide where we can apply our gas turbine technology for projects where the power is primarily used by our customers for industrial processes," Anis said.

"This project is a cornerstone of the enhanced industrial sector, which is planned to help pursue Abu Dhabi's vision for a diverse and sustainable economy," said Duncan Hedditch, Chief Executive Officer of Emal.

"The companies supporting this project, such as GE, all have solid records for implementing successful projects in the past," he said.

In addition to benefiting the UAE economy, Emal is committed to being eco-friendly and makes sure the production facility meets all the environmental standards set by the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency.


The numbers

2,000: In megawatts will be the installed capacity of electricity the project will have once phase one is completed, which could be used for production of 700,000 tonnes of aluminium a year