DUBAL served as the sponsor of the 2013 Gas Turbine Users International (GTUI) Annual Conference which featured general sessions hosted by the GTUI committee as well as round table discussions and conference-type sessions featuring original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

In a statement, Dubal said it sponsored the event keeping in mind it has 1,573 reduction cells in seven potlines, producing more than one million tonnes of primary aluminium per annum with the total load demand for electrical power approximately 1,900 MW. It noted that the infrastructure made the Dubal Power Plant not only a major user of gas turbines in the region, but also an industry resource in terms of knowledge and expertise in this area.

Dubal was also motivated to sponsor the event in view of its corporate commitment to continuously improve through best practice sharing and benchmarking.

A non-profit corporation, the US-based GTUI is dedicated to promoting the exchange of technical and other non-commercial information between gas turbine users and OEMs with the aim of improving the safe and reliable operation of gas turbines for the benefit of both the public and gas turbine users. “This position is closely aligned with Dubal’s on-going quest to operate in such a way as to cause ‘zero harm to people and the environment’ – an ambition that is supported by well-developed management systems and controls. Moreover, several employees of Dubal Power Plant operations are members of GTUI, giving the corporation access to the latest developments and trends in the gas turbine industry,” said a Dubal statement.

“As the world’s largest single-site primary aluminium smelter using pre-baked anode technology, Dubal has an obligation towards all its stakeholders to operate responsibly,” explained Tayeb Al Awadhi, vice president power and desalination. “This is expressed through our vision, which is to be one of the best companies in the global primary aluminium industry in production, markets, people and results by 2020.” He also spoke of the company’s support for value-adding allied industry platforms such as the GTUI.

Dubal’s high-quality products are made in the forms of foundry alloy and extrusion billet and have high purity. More than 300 customers are served in 50-plus countries. Approximately 88 per cent of Dubal’s annual production is exported globally, the company’s key markets being Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and the Americas.

The company owns 50 per cent of Emirates Aluminium (Emal) in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi. It also has investments in alumina/bauxite joint venture projects in Brazil, Cameroon and the Republic of Guinea and in a calcined petroleum coke joint venture development project in China.

It has invested substantially in developing advanced reduction cell technologies. This has culminated in proprietary Dubal DX and DX+ technologies – both of which operate at high amperage levels and rank among the best reduction technologies available.