Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC (EGA) announced this week that it plans to move closer to full automation at its Jebel Ali plant with the addition of over a dozen new automated overhead cranes.
The firm says it will replace 16 of the cranes currently onsite with 14 new overhead cranes that feature auto positioning and advanced sensing capabilities. The cranes being replaced have been in service at the site for 25 years.
The CEO of EGA Abdul Bin Kalban said to regional media this week that the new cranes will make a tremendous impact at the aluminium smelter.
“Pot tending cranes are the workhorses of an aluminium smelter, and driving automation offers significant potential to reduce risks for people and improve efficiency and cost. Our new cranes will boost automation in our potlines from the day they are installed, and we expect to make great progress in further automation during these cranes’ working lives.”
“These cranes are an investment in the long-term robustness of our operations and will help enable us to create value for many decades to come. Using technology to enhance operations is at the heart of EGA’s Industry 4.0 strategy,” Bin Kalban continued.
EGA has chosen French industrial engineering firm Fives Group to install the new cranes. Currently the plan is to have the first crane delivered by the end of next year and to have all of the new cranes installed by early 2025.
Aluminium Division President of Fives Group Sebastien Gauguier noted the long and productive relationship his firm has with EGA.
“Fives has worked with EGA since aluminium production began in the UAE in 1979 and we are pleased to continue to earn the trust of the largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer in the world.”
“Through our partnership with EGA we will together lead the industry in crane automation in aluminium smelters,” he concluded.
Based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Emirates Global Aluminium is an aluminium conglomerate created by the merger between Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) in 2013. EGA had an estimated enterprise value of US$15 billion at the time the merger took place. The firm is owned equally by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai. Emirates Global Aluminium holds interests in bauxite/alumina and primary aluminium smelting.