UAE based aluminium producer Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has signed up to purchase 560,000 MWh of solar power from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park (MBR Solar Park) to launch a new product for global customers calling it CelestiAL.
Under the agreement signed with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), EGA will use solar power procured to make 40,000 tons of aluminium in the 1st year with the potential for significant expansion in the future. The 2 partners claim this agreement makes UAE the 1st country in the world to produce aluminium using solar power.
Financial terms of the deal or the duration of the power supply agreement were not disclosed.
The International Renewable Energy Certification System will ensure EGA's CelestiAL solar aluminium will carry the certification of solar power used to produce it.
DEWA added that the UAE's significant investment in solar power and DEWA's own independent power producers (IPP) program has made it possible to make solar power available on the scale needed for aluminium smelting.
"Aluminium is a lightweight, strong and infinitely recyclable metal and these properties mean that as a material it plays a vital global role in the development of a sustainable future. However, it also matters how sustainably aluminium is made," said EGA CEO Abdulnasser bin Kalban. "CelestiAL aluminium made in the UAE with solar power, will support modern life for people around the world while also protecting our planet for future generations. This is a great milestone for the UAE and our industry."
Currently the MBR Solar Park has an installed solar power capacity of 1.013 GW with an additional 1.85 GW of solar panels and concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity to come up. Eventually the park is to host 5 GW capacity by 2030.
In December 2020, Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro signed up for solar and wind energy in Brazil to offer renewable power to its industrial assets (see Norwegian Aluminium Company Seeks Solar In Brazil).