Emirates Global Aluminium and GE Power are to develop a roadmap to reduce GHG emissions from the operation of EGA’s existing GE natural gas turbines by exploring hydrogen as a fuel, as well as CCUS solutions.

An MOU was signed by Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, and Joseph Anis, President & CEO of GE Gas Power Europe, Middle East, and Africa. EGA has 33 GE natural gas turbines at Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, with a total power generation capacity of 5,200 MW. Electricity generation accounts for a significant proportion of EGA’s total GHG emissions.

The MOU between EGA and GE is in line with the ambitions of the UAE Government’s Hydrogen Leadership Roadmap, unveiled earlier this month in Glasgow during COP26. The roadmap will include development of a strategy to support low-carbon industries to contribute towards the achievement of the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. 

"Decarbonizing industries is a major pillar of the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative, therefore EGA’s plan to switch to hydrogen fuel and expand the use of CCUS solutions supports our net-zero drive. With its efforts to reduce the emission intensity of its operations, EGA is a role model in environmental sustainability for the UAE’s industrial companies," said Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment. said”

The MOU is the first GE Gas Power has entered globally to help explore potential solutions to lower the carbon footprint of power generation operations in the aluminum sector. EGA and GE intend to set up a joint steering committee to create and drive the decarbonization roadmap forward.

"Aluminum has an important role to play in the development of a more sustainable society, and it also matters how sustainably aluminum is made. Aluminum smelting is energy intensive, and generating the electricity required accounts for more than half the global aluminum industry’s GHG emissions," said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA. "This work with GE will enable us to determine how we can reduce the carbon intensity of our power generation over the years ahead including by switching to hydrogen, and is an important step in our journey to ensure EGA’s aluminum can play its full part in helping the world tackle the generational challenge of climate change. It will also contribute to the achievement of the UAE’s Hydrogen Leadership Roadmap." 

 The decarbonization roadmap will include the following areas:

• Hydrogen: Explore options for replacing natural gas with hydrogen and hydrogen-blended fuels for combustion in EGA’s GE turbines
• CCUS: Explore the potential to integrate this technology into EGA’s power plants and implement the necessary changes required to the auxiliary and balance of plant systems