Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, along with Mubadala and Dubal Holding, has successfully achieved a major milestone with the first firing of the Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine at a new AED1-billion ($272 million) power plant under development at EGA’s Jebel Ali site.

The Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine, a leading technology in efficient power generation, is the heart of the new power plant. Over the coming months, other facilities of the plant will be completed and integrated to achieve a generation capacity of over 600 megawatts of electricity. Full completion of the project is expected in the summer. The new power block at EGA is being developed by JA Power & Water Co, a joint venture formed by Mubadala and Dubal Holding. EGA intends to buy power from the joint venture for 25 years following commissioning.

Use of the H-class gas turbine will further improve the efficiency of power generation at EGA, saving natural resources and reducing costs and environmental emissions.

The installation of an H-class turbine aligns with the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint of power generation by 70 per cent and to increase energy efficiency by 40 per cent.

The new power block is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions from EGA’s power-generation and aluminium-smelting operations at Jebel Ali by some 10 per cent, the equivalent of planting more than 17 million trees each year.