EGA starts-up final reduction cell in next generation technology pilot project

Homaid Al Shimmari, Chairman of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), started-up the final reduction cell in the company’s next generation smelting technology pilot project in Al Taweelah.

 The pilot is a key step in readying EX smelting technology for large-scale industrialisation, making the project an important foundation of EGA’s future growth and the further strengthening of EGA’s position as the technology provider of choice in the global aluminium industry.

 EX is EGA’s 10th generation smelting technology and produces more aluminium with less energy and lower emissions.

 Homaid Al Shimmari said, "EX technology enhances EGA’s ability to remain at the forefront of the global aluminium industry. Our aim is to apply this technology in our planned facility in Oklahoma, the first new primary aluminium production plant to be built in the United States since 1980. As part of this effort, we will test the technology using alumina refined from bauxite sourced from multiple locations, to further prove its potential for global deployment.”

 Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, stated, “The pilot of our new EX technology is a strategic project for EGA, and is the latest chapter in our long history of industry leadership through technology innovation. The performance of EX reduction cells during start-up and in the first weeks of production has been even better than expected, and I am excited about what this technology will achieve. I thank each colleague who worked so hard to develop this new technology and build the pilot in Al Taweelah.”

 EGA has developed its own aluminium smelting technology in the UAE for more than 30 years. All EGA smelter expansions since the 1990s have used EGA technology, and the company as retrofitted all its older potlines. EGA’s technology development, and earlier work since 1980, has reduced the amount of electricity required to make each tonne of aluminium by 37.5 percent.

 EGA was the first UAE industrial company to license its core process technology internationally, in a deal with Aluminium Bahrain in 2016 for the use of EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology in the Bahraini company’s Potline 6 expansion project.

 The EX pilot in Al Taweelah will also be used to prove the most advanced Industry 4.0 capabilities in the global aluminium industry.

 EGA launched its digital transformation in 2021 to boost cost competitiveness, agility, and flexibility, and to improve safety and sustainability. Since then, EGA has implemented more than 80 Industry 4.0 use cases, generating around $100 million in financial impact.

 In January 2025, EGA became the first industrial company in the UAE and the first aluminium company in the world to be designated an Industry 4.0 global lighthouse by the World Economic Forum. Construction of the 10 pilot pots began in late 2024, and the first reduction cell was energised in mid-June 2024.

WAM