Aluminium maker EGA, partners team up to advance solar power in UAE

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is partnering with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, known as Taqa, the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) and Dubal Holding to develop more solar generation capacity in the UAE and decarbonise aluminium production.

The partnership, which is pending approvals, will help EGA achieve net-zero by 2050 and support Ewec’s strategy to develop more renewable energy projects, Ewec said on Wednesday. It will also boost production of CelestiAL solar aluminium.

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The four companies are planning a deal under which Taqa and Dubal Holding would acquire EGA’s electricity generation assets in the UAE, including 6.47 GW of mainly combined cycle gas power plants, and the power generated from these assets would be supplied to the grid under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).

EGA would procure power from the network through a long-term supply agreement which would make it the largest single user on the grid, creating predictable and steady demand for power. The initiative would raise the share of clean energy in EGA's aluminium production as it would give it access to existing solar plants.

The cooperation with EGA will enable Ewec to develop more solar capacity in the Gulf country. The projects that would result from this initiative are expected to have a greater output than the current total installed solar capacity in the country.

Ewec has already overseen the development of the world's two largest solar photovoltaic projects -- Noor Abu Dhabi and Al Dhafra PV in the UAE. Taqa and Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar hold a 60% stake in the 2-GW Al Dhafra Solar PV project in Abu Dhabi where Ewec will off-take the electricity.

"Today, we are taking another historic step towards achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We are also assuring that EGA’s global competitiveness will strengthen over the decades ahead, not only as the world’s largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer but also one of its most environmentally-responsible,” said EGA's chief executive Abdulnasser Bin Kalban.

EGA, equally owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai, operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine in Guinea. In 2021, the company sold 2.54 million tonnes of cast metal.