Murray congratulates the Alba Power Project and Alstom Grid SAS team

ALUMINIUM Bahrain (Alba)’s commitment to boosting productivity, increasing capacity and enhancing the reliability of Potlines 1 and 2 were bolstered with the successful completion of Potlines 1 and 2 Rectiformers Replacement – one of the first brownfield projects of this magnitude anywhere in the world. 

The entire project – managed by Alba’s Power Project department with their primary contractor Alstom Grid SAS – was completed with over 1 million work hours without a single Lost Time Injury (LTI).

Alba’s chief executive Tim Murray complimented the project team on this achievement during a ceremony held recently at the Alba Club.

Present were Alstom Grid SAS officials including commercial vice president for the Near and Middle East region, Mazen Hamadallh, and the director of operations for power electronics applications, Eric Lecaille.

Alba’s Power Station director, Amin Sultan, project team leader PK Kasinathan and members of the Power Project department who were involved in the rectiformer replacement project were also present.

The new units were custom made for Alba by Alstom Grid SAS. They are packed with 30 per cent higher capacity equipment while some units are being installed with cross-connection facilities to provide additional back-up power to Potlines 1 – 3. 

Commenting on the rectiformer replacement project, Sultan said: “The completion of this project will secure continued supply of power to potlines 1 – 3 and thus accommodate the recent increase in metal production, and also, the planned growth in productivity at the plant. The team faced severe challenges during the project execution phase and yet were able to complete the entire project without a single lost time injury. I would like to congratulate for this accomplishment and for demonstrating that placing safety as a priority does produce results.”    

Alba contracted Alstom Grid for the replacement of the Potlines 1 and 2 rectiformers in mid-2008. The project involved the replacement of 10 rectifiers that are responsible for providing the power supply to Potlines 1 and 2. It took nearly five years for Alstom Grid SAS to manufacture and install 10 units, that is, five for each potline. The project objectives were accomplished without major interruptions to production from the two potlines.