EMAL has powered its Phase I potline amperage up from 350kA to 380kA current, it announced on Tuesday.

This is so as to improve efficiency, and thereby increase annual production from 750,000 to 800,000mt of aluminium per annum. To achieve this, the company invested in two Recti formers, for each potline to increase power to 87.5kA in each Recti former.

Furthermore, the carbon plant has been upgraded to start producing larger carbon anodes to compliment the increase in power in each reduction cell.

“The increased amperage in our Phase I potlines edges us another step closer to establishing EMAL as the supplier of choice to customers around the world,” said Saeed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, EMAL president and CEO.

Yousef Bastaki, vice presidents of projects, added that the upgrading of the smelter was a combined team effort by executives, senior management, operations and project teams, as well as engineers.

In September of this year, EMAL raised its in-house electric power generation capacity to allow the smelter to be totally self-sufficient in power.

The company also took delivery of the first power plant unit for the project’s second phase, which will boost capacity generation by 1,000MW to 3,000MW, making it one of the biggest single site power stations in the Gulf region.

This is one of EMAL’s major contracts for its Phase II expansion and closely follows the first steel structure milestone and potroom concrete pouring Phase II milestones, keeping the firm on track to achieve full production for its expansion by the close of 2014.