Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa inaugurated on Sunday Aluminium Bahrain's (Alba) brownfield Line 6 Expansion Project, making Bahrain the home of the world's largest aluminium smelter outside China. The elaborate opening ceremony was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister and other dignitaries. Welcoming the inauguration of Line 6 project under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad, Alba chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa, said that the completion of Line 6 project is the greatest achievement in the era of His Majesty in Bahrain and this monumental event would not have been possible without the directives and support of his wise leadership. In his speech, Alba chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa said the project will lead to tangible shift in the country with the company now contributing 15 per cent of the kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP). "From 12 percent, Alba will now contribute 15 per cent to the country's GDP. This is a powering and remarkable industrial achievement for the country," Shaikh Daij said. One of the major accomplishments of the project, he said, was that the smelter has been able to achieve substantial savings of 16 per cent of the total budget and also the project has been conducted with total transparency. Line 6 Expansion Project will also be transformational for Bahrain as it will significantly boost employment opportunities for Bahrainis at both Alba and the local downstream market, Shaikh Daij said. According to him, about 500 graduates have been employed by the smelter this year. Starting-out as a 120,000 metric tonne per annum (mtpa) smelter in 1971, Alba's production for 2018 stood at plus-1 million metric tonnes. The project will boost the smelter's annual production by 540,000 metric tonnes this year, bringing its total production capacity to 1.5 million metric tonnes per year. According to Shaikh Daij with the ramp-up of production, approximately 50 per cent of capacity which was added this year will be sold to the downstream aluminium sector in the kingdom, while the rest will be exported, predominantly to the US, Europe and Asia. "We are willing to offer the half of 540,000 metric tonnes to the local downstream industry provided they are willing to use it," he said at the press conference held after the opening ceremony. According to him, currently 60 percent of the total output is exported while 40 per cent is sold locally. "A lot of local industrial units are also expanding, we also supply to them," he said. The biggest export market will continue to be the US, which is growing very fast and is aided by the Bahrain-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), he said. "Demand is mostly coming from the US. We plan to export about 120,000 metric tonnes to the US market," Shaikh Daij said. With a Capex of approximately $3 billion, the Line 6 Expansion Project involved the construction of a sixth pot line using EGA's proprietary DX+ Ultra Technology, a 1,792 MW Power Station (Power Station 5) utilising the world's first H-class General Electric (GE) 9HA Gas Turbine (GT) and other industrial services. In his address, Brendan Bechtel, chairman and CEO of Bechtel group lauded the company for having commissioned and completed the project way ahead of schedule. The project was commissioned on December 13 last year, ahead of schedule, with the delivery of the ‘first hot metal'. It has been completed two weeks ahead of schedule, he said. Bechtel is the EPCM contractor for the Line 6 Expansion Project smelter. For Power Station 5 (PS 5), GE and GAMA Consortium was awarded the EPC contract, while Siemens is the Power Distribution System contractor. Source: Trade Arabia News
