Abu Dhabi Aluminium Company (Adac) has appointed US-based Bechtel and Germany’s Fichtner to carry out engineering studies for the new Dh8 billion ($2.17 billion) Ruwais aluminium smelter and associated infrastructure in Abu Dhabi emirate.  Production is set to start by 2011.

Bechtel will carry out work on the grassroots smelter, while Fichtner is to undertake an assessment of options for supplying power and water to the project.
Work on the world-class facility will be carried out in stages, beginning with an aluminium smelter producing over 550,000 tonnes of metal per year.  Over time the smelter’s capacity will be raised to two million tonnes.
Adac will make a strong contribution the national GDP while also creating thousands of jobs and raising the skills of the local workforce.
Adac will be a 50:50 joint venture of government-owned General Holding Company (GHC) and Comalco Aluminium, part of Australia’s Rio Tinto.  The government of Abu Dhabi has expressed its strong support for this venture.  The alliance is of tremendous importance to Abu Dhabi, bringing together UAE expertise and natural gas resources from the UAE and Rio Tinto’s raw materials, international systems and operational expertise.
Rio Tinto Aluminium is an integrated primary aluminium producer with operations located in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Rio Tinto Aluminium is the aluminium product group for Rio Tinto, a world leader in finding, mining and minerals processing.