Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) and Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) have signed an operation and maintenance agreement this week.
The new agreement will have the two organizations exchanging power in order to improve efficiency. The agreement will allow the parties to schedule exports and imports between the two systems.
Alba Chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa elaborated on the importance of the deal to local media.
“We are pleased to continue this well-established cooperation with the Electricity and Water Authority in the field of energy exchange operations.”
“This is in line with Alba’s goal of optimising the use of natural gas in the company’s power plants, providing the necessary stability for operations around the clock and ensuring the reliability and durability of the energy infrastructure, Alba and the EWA alike,” he continued.
“With the increasing focus on clean energy solutions, including solar energy, we look forward to working with EWA towards a sustainable and carbon-free future, to achieve the goals of the Kingdom of Bahrain to reach zero carbon neutrality by 2060.”
The parties say that this agreement is the first step in what they hope is a longer-term agreement in the future.
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is the world’s biggest aluminium smelter outside the People’s Republic of China. 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 2022 Alba’s smelter produced 1,600,111 metric tons of primary aluminium.