EGA, TAQA, DUBAL Holding and EWEC sign agreements to decarbonise aluminium production

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), DUBAL Holding, and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) announced the signing of a series of agreements to decarbonise EGA’s aluminium production and expand renewable and clean energy development in Abu Dhabi.

The agreements cement an initiative that advances TAQA and DUBAL Holding’s growth strategies, makes EGA a leader in the global aluminium industry’s drive to net zero by 2050, supports EWEC’s  strategic optimisation of new solar power generation in Abu Dhabi, and improves the efficiency of power generation in the Emirate enabling further reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The agreements were signed by Farid Al Awlaqi, Chief Executive Officer of TAQA’s Generation business, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, Ahmad Hamad Bin Fahad, Chief Executive Officer of DUBAL Holding, and Ahmed Ali Alshamsi, Chief Executive Officer of EWEC, in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Humaid Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Homaid Al Shimmari, Chairman of Emirates Global Aluminium, and Jasim Husain Thabet, Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of TAQA.

TAQA and DUBAL Holding will acquire EGA’s power and water generation assets in Al Taweelah for USD $1.9 billion (ca. AED 7 billion). The Al Taweelah power plant has a power capacity of 3.1 gigawatts (GW), is the third largest in Abu Dhabi, and includes 6.25 million imperial gallons per day of desalination capacity. The plant utilises high-efficiency combined-cycle gas turbines and reverse osmosis desalination technology. The generation assets will be held under a joint venture company, with ownership shared equally between TAQA and DUBAL Holding, and operations managed by a new operations and maintenance company jointly owned by TAQA and EGA.

The TAQA and DUBAL Holding joint venture signed a Power Purchase Agreement with EWEC under which EWEC will purchase the power from the Al Taweelah plant until 2049. The plant will provide flexible power supply, supporting the continued integration of renewables and clean energy into the Abu Dhabi grid.

TAQA Transmission will acquire EGA’s electricity transmission assets, and it is currently undertaking a project to increase the overall interconnection capacity from the main grid to EGA’s sites from 640 to 3,360 megavolt-amperes (MVA), to allow for enhanced clean energy supply from the grid, with completion expected in 2027.

EGA signed Abu Dhabi’s largest-ever electricity supply agreements with EWEC and TAQA Distribution, which will make EGA the largest single electricity customer on the Abu Dhabi grid. These agreements provide EGA with 23 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year for 24 years, with an increasing share from renewable and clean energy sources as EWEC’s transformative solar electricity generation projects come online. EGA’s power demand supports EWEC’s continued optimisation and utilisation of solar generation assets.

EWEC is accelerating the decarbonisation of Abu Dhabi’s energy sector, and by 2035 forecasts more than 18GW of solar PV will be in operation, in addition to the decoupling of power and water production. Due to these strategic actions, EWEC projects total CO₂ emissions in the energy sector will decrease around 50 per cent by the mid-2030s.

EGA will vastly increase the proportion of its production that is CelestiAL solar aluminium and MinimAL low carbon aluminium produced using nuclear power to as much as almost half EGA’s total primary aluminium production by the end of 2028, depending on market demand.

Production of CelestiAL and MinimAL will begin to increase from the fourth quarter of 2025, as EGA will also have the ability to bid on increasing amounts of CECs for renewable and clean power from existing solar and nuclear power generation assets.

EWEC will further improve the efficiency of the Abu Dhabi electricity generation fleet, as the addition of EGA’s generation capacity to the grid enables further flexibility in the management of electricity despatch in response to demand fluctuations. This is expected to reduce gas consumption per unit of electricity generated, and contribute towards TAQA and EWEC achieving its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for electricity generation in Abu Dhabi.

EGA and EWEC will share the financial benefits that directly derive from this initiative on an ongoing basis.

The total greenhouse gas emissions reduced by the initiative is expected to be 3.5 million tonnes annually by 2035, more than three per cent of Abu Dhabi’s total current emissions.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, customary for a transaction of this nature and is expected to close in the new year.