Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based international aluminium smelter, has set the benchmark for sustainable power generation with the successful installation of the first H-class General Electric (GE) 9HA Gas Turbine (GT) at its Power Station (PS) 5.

Thorough this development, Alba has become the first aluminium smelter in the world to use the largest and most efficient gas turbine produced by GE, said a statement from the company.

A ceremony was held to celebrate this occasion today (November 28) under the patronage of Alba’s chairman of board of directors, Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa and was attended by Alba board directors, which included: Dr Mohamed Kameshki and Yaser E Humaidan from Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company and Ahmed Mohammad A Al Jabr from Sabic Industrial Investments Co, it said.

Alba’s deputy chief executive officer Ali Al Baqali; chief power officer Amin Sultan; Alba executive management along with senior officials from GE Power: the president and CEO power services for Middle East and Africa (MEA) Joseph Anis; the president and CEO gas power systems sales for Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Ghassan Barghout; president and CEO gas power systems projects for Mena and India Mohammad Ali; and the global projects leader, gas power systems Manuel Valverde; as well as the CEO of Gama Ahmet Ligvani were amongst the key attendees at this ceremony.

Shaikh Daij said: “Line 6 Expansion Project is our pride. This project will be transformational as it will raise the bar for sustainability in the global aluminium industry by using cutting-edge technology, both for Potline 6 and the Power Expansion Project.”

“The successful installation of the GE 9HA GT is a significant milestone for Alba and underlines our commitment to environment preservation and sustainable development,” he said.

“We thank GE-Gama Consortium for their continuous support and look forward to successfully achieving all milestones together as per schedule,” he added.

“I thank Alba executives for their support, and especially Amin Sultan and the PS 5 team for their diligent efforts towards this landmark achievement,” he concluded.

During the ceremony, Anis presented a token of appreciation to Alba chairman to mark this significant occasion, said a statement.

Anis added: “We have supported Alba’s vision of growth and operational excellence since the 1970s when we first supplied Frame 5 units for Power Stations 1 and 2.”

“Today, it is our honour to equip and set-up Power Station 5 for Alba in collaboration with Gama,” he said.

“We are particularly excited that GE’s HA gas turbine technology, which has set industry efficiency benchmarks in the conversion of fuel to electricity, will help Alba’s Power Station 5 become one of the most efficient combined cycle power plants in the Gulf region,” he added.

“As Alba continues its mission to position itself as a leading global smelter, our company remains committed to supporting this journey,” Anis concluded.
Alba’s PS 5 is a 1,792 megawatts (MW) Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plant with an efficiency of 54 per cent. GE and Gama Consortium is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor PS 5 wherein GE will provide three 9HA gas turbines, three steam turbines and three high recovery steam generators (HRSGs) for PS 5, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service