Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has announced it has achieved a milestone on its Power Station 5 (PS5) Block 4 Project, following the arrival of Mitsubishi Power’s M701JAC Gas Turbine (GT). The M701JAC GT is the first-of-its-kind in the world GT manufactured for a primary aluminium smelter and installed in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
According to a statement from Alba, the JAC GT is an air-cooled version of the J-series GT and Steam Turbine, and has a combined cycle output 680.9MW, and reduces CO2 emissions when compared to conventional coal fired boilers and turbines worldwide.
“We are pleased to see the Gas Turbine at Alba’s Project site as that will bring us one step closer to boost our operational efficiency while accelerate our ESG transformation in line with the Kingdom’s objectives of Net Zero Emissions by 2060. The state-of-the-art JAC GT will enable Alba to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and deliver clean energy. This GT will support our vision once fully commissioned to be a sustainable and responsible aluminium producer,” said Alba’s CEO Ali Al Baqali.
He added, “I thank our partners Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and SEPCOIII for their support to progress with this project’s milestones safely and on time. I also want to thank our project team for achieving to date around 1.5m safe working hours without LTI.”
Takashi Tozawa, Senior Fellow, Senior General Manager, GTCC Business Division of Energy Systems at MHI continued, “Today, marks an important milestone in our growing partnership with Alba, with the on-schedule progress and arrival of Mitsubishi Power advanced JAC gas turbine to Alba’s new Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Block 4 in Power Station 5. This project reflects Mitsubishi Power’s ongoing commitment to deliver our state-of-the-art and hydrogen-ready gas turbine technologies and services to support Alba and our partners in Bahrain, in meeting their power and decarbonisation goals, which are aligned with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 for sustainable development.”
Alba’s PS5 Block 4 Expansion Project is the addition of a fourth Block of similar combined cycle configuration with 680.9MW M701JAC Gas Turbine Combined Cycle, and includes tie into the existing 220kV Substation. Once operational in Q4 2024, Block 4 will increase the nameplate capacity of PS5 Complex from 1,800MW to 2,481MW, and reduce its overall GHG emissions intensity ratio by 0.5t of CO2 per 1.0t of aluminium produced.
Kong Lingfeng Vice President of SEPCOIII concluded, “We express our commitment to support Bahrain’s energy goals and meet Alba’s expectations through the timely installation of the gas turbine and generator. SEPCOIII aims to provide Chinese expertise to boost Alba’s production capacity while delivering this Project within the schedule.”