Alba marks important milestone in PS5 Block 4 Project with arrival of Mitsubishi Power M701JAC Gas Turbine

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, marked a new milestone in its Power Station 5 (PS5) Block 4 Project with the arrival of Mitsubishi Power’s M701JAC Gas Turbine (GT) on 16 October 2023. 

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.

The JAC GT, an air-cooled version of the J-series GT and Steam Turbine, has a combined cycle output 680.9 MW and reduces CO2 emissions when compared to conventional coal fired boilers and turbines worldwide.

A special gathering was held at the Block 4 Project site on Tuesday 24 October 2023 to mark this milestone, which was attended by Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ali Al Baqali, Chief Power Officer Mr. Amin Sultan and other top officials from Alba Management, Mr. Takashi Tozawa, Senior Fellow, Senior General Manager, GTCC Business Division of Energy Systems, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Mr. Javier Cavada, President and CEO, EMEA, Mitsubishi Power, Mr. Khalid Salem, President, MENA, Mitsubishi Power, Mr. Kong Lingfeng Vice President of SEPCOIII in addition to officials from ESBI, the ECM consultant on the Project.

Commenting on this occasion, Alba’s CEO Mr. Ali Al Baqali stated:

"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.

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 1.5 million safe working hours without LTI."

Mr. Takashi Tozawa, Senior Fellow, Senior General Manager, GTCC Business Division of Energy Systems at MHI added: "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 decarbonization goals, which are aligned with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 for sustainable development."

Mr. Kong Lingfeng Vice President of SEPCOIII stated:

"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."

Alba’s PS5 Block 4 Expansion Project is the addition of a fourth Block of similar combined cycle configuration with 680.9 megawatts (MW) 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 1,800 MW to 2,481 MW and reduce its overall GHG emissions intensity ratio by 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per 1 tonne of aluminium produced.