Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, has announced a significant milestone towards the commercial operation of its Power Station 5 (PS 5) Block 4 Project with the first fire of the Mitsubishi Power M701JAC Gas Turbine (GT) achieved last month.

Alba’s PS5 Block 4 is a new 680.9-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle power plant that expands the existing PS5 facility. This state-of-the-art J-class gas turbine addition boasts superior efficiency compared to Power Stations 3 and 4. Scheduled for completion in Q4 2024, Block 4 will boost PS5’s total capacity to 2,481 MW, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of aluminium produced.

A consortium of Mitsubishi Power and SepcoIII is responsible for the entire project lifecycle.

Alba said this achievement marks a key step towards the project’s on-schedule completion in Q4 2024. Notably, it also comes just six months after the GT unit’s delivery to site in October 2023, it stated.

Once operational, Block 4 will increase the nameplate capacity of PS5 Complex from 1,800 MW to 2,481 MW and reduce its overall GHG emissions intensity ratio by 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per 1 tonne of aluminium produced.