Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. announced over the weekend another milestone in its Line 6 Expansion Project with the handover of over 14 dozen new pots, allowing the firm to begin commissioning over half the line’s new capacity.
“We are pleased to announce that Potline 6 is now in full ramp-up mode with the handover of the next set of 172 pots for commissioning,” said Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa in a press release. “Once the start-up of the additional 172 pots is complete, Alba will have commissioned a total of 212 pots (50% of Potline 6 capacity). We look forward to see the positive financial benefits that this additional capacity will bring to our bottom-line.”
The product of an investment of over US$3 billion, Alba’s Line 6 project is among the region’s biggest brownfield projects. The build-out includes the construction of a sixth pot line, which will feature Alba’s proprietary DX+ Ultra Technology, a fifth power station with a generating capacity of 1,792 MW and using the world’s first H-class General Electric (GE) 9HA Gas Turbine (GT), among other major industrial installations.
When completed later this year, the new potline will boost Alba’s total nameplate capacity by over 540 thousand metric tons per annum to an overall annual capacity of 1.5 million metric tons.
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C., or simply Alba, is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is one of the top 10 largest aluminium producers in the world. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2018 Alba’s smelter produced 1,011,101 metric tons of primary aluminium.