EGA and INALUM sign agreement about utilizing UAE technology for expansion of the Brownfield aluminium smelter

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM) have signed a contract, which will give EGA the sole right to licence its technology developed in the UAE to INALUM for the expansion of the Indonesian company's Brownfield aluminium smelter as well as the right to invest in the project and offtake metal.

According to the agreement, if the Brownfield expansion of the Kuala Tanjung smelter in North Sumatra is possible, EGA will have the only right to commercially licence its DX+ Ultra smelting technology to INALUM, the company's most advanced industrialised technology.

"This agreement is an important step forward in our cooperation with INALUM, and brings closer the deployment of our UAE-developed technology in Indonesia. A potential investment in the Kuala Tanjung brownfield expansion, and the offtake of metal, would progress our growth in low carbon aluminium that will make modern life possible around the world while protecting our planet for future generations. I thank INALUM for their continuing trust in EGA in line with the partnership between our two countries," said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA.

EGA also has the right to offtake significant portions of the metal produced and acquire a modest equity part in the project. Renewable energy consumption is a prerequisite for an investment or metal offtake under EGA. Hydroelectricity is used to power the aluminium Kuala Tanjung smelter currently in operation.

Depending on the results of a bankable feasibility study, which will now be jointly funded by EGA and INALUM, the expansion project is anticipated to have an annual capacity of more than 400 000 tonnes of aluminium.

"This agreement confirms that EGA is our chosen partner for the brownfield expansion of Kuala Tanjung, based on the efficiency of EGA's smelting technology and experience transferring it internationally, and the company's potential partnership as an investor and metal offtaker. We look forward to the successful conclusion of the bankable feasibility study as the next step before we begin construction," said Hendi Prio Santoso, President Director of INALUM.

At the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, the agreement was signed by Hendi Prio Santoso, President Director of INALUM, and Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA. His Excellency Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade, His Excellency Pahala Mansury, Indonesia's Deputy Minister for State-owned Enterprises, and His Excellency Husin Bagis, the Republic of Indonesia's ambassador to the UAE, all observed the signing.

Following a contract signed in 2020, EGA and INALUM are already cooperating on future upgrading, utilising EGA's technological expertise of the current aluminium smelter at Kuala Tanjung. The initiative seeks to increase output from the present reduction cells by around 20,000 tonnes annually, or roughly 10 per cent. The project's pilot section's design work is finished.