The Alba aluminum smelter already is one mighty large facility, and it’s about to get even bigger. Originally constructed in the early 1970s, and expanded four times since then, the facility will be able to produce more than 800,000 tonnes of aluminum per year when the Line 5 expansion is completed in the first quarter of 2005.
The $1.7 billion budget for expansion represents about 20 percent of Bahrain’s gross domestic product. Alba’s current production of some 526,000 tonnes accounts for approximately 2.5 percent of the world’s annual aluminum output. The additional 307,000 tonnes resulting from the current expansion will make Alba the world’s third-largest aluminum producer on a single site.
Bechtel is providing engineering, procurement, construction, and management services valued at $1.1 billion. Alba, which is majority-owned by Bahrain’s government, chose Bechtel in part because of its experience as a global leader in the aluminum industry.
“With such a large project, it was imperative for Alba and for Bahrain to select a partner that could get the job done safely, on time, and on budget,” says Niall O’Byrne, Alba’s project manager.
Bechtel has installed approximately one-third of the western world’s aluminum smelters.
