US$3.3 billion facility expected to reach sustained production at nameplate capacity during the first half of 2020
Emirates Global Aluminium recently announced that Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi has produced one million tonnes of alumina since operations began in April 2019.
Al Taweelah alumina refinery is now expected to reach sustained production at its nameplate capacity during the first half of 2020
Al Taweelah alumina refinery is expected to produce some two million tonnes of alumina per year once full ramp-up is achieved, enough to meet 40% of EGA’s alumina needs. Alumina refineries convert bauxite ore into alumina, the feedstock for aluminium smelters.
“Our preparations to operate Al Taweelah alumina refinery safely and efficiently began when the project was still on the drawing board. These plans are being effectively put into action by our operations team of global industry veterans and UAE nationals,” remarked Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, EGA.
EGA invested some US$ 3.3bn to build Al Taweelah alumina refinery. Construction took 72 million man-hours of work, equivalent to one person working for over 25,000 years.
The new plant contains some 9,500 instruments, 222 tanks, enough piping to stretch from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, and cabling that would reach from Abu Dhabi to Cairo. It covers an area equivalent to 200 football fields, and contains enough steel to build seven Eiffel Towers.
Separately EGA began bauxite exports from its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation in August 2019.
