Dubai Aluminium’s (Dubal) experience and expertise will prove invaluable for Emirates Aluminium Limited (Emal), which is building what could be the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter in Abu Dhabi.

Emal is a joint venture between Dubal and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company. The $6 billion greenfield smelter is being erected at Taweelah in Abu Dhabi emirate with a designed capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per year (tpy). The first-phase, which will be ready in 2010, will have a capacity of 700,000 tpy.
When completed and at full capacity, the new smelter will have 2,600 MW of power.
Dubal, a world-class smelter in its own right, is providing the technology and management resources to the project. 
Dubal CEO Abdullah Jasim bin Kalban has said Emal will bring enormous economic benefits to the UAE economy, while also paving the way for economic diversification and employment generation. It will raise competitiveness and enable the UAE to become a leading player in the global aluminium industry.
The Dubal-Mudabala alliance was planned to add value to the local energy sector. The joint project establishes a basis for the two companies to develop aluminium-related projects and undertake joint exploration of business opportunities in the upstream, production and marketing aspects of the aluminium industry. Besides, it will also promote the development of downstream businesses.
Over the past few months, Emal has secured a 6 sq km site for the smelter complex and a captive berth from the Sheikh Khalifa Industrial Zone and Port authorities.
Taweelah, half way between Dubai and Abu Dhabi cities, has been declared an industrial area. Emal will be one of its first and most important projects.
“The development of the aluminium smelter will be one of the major milestones for the success of the new Industrial Area,” said Ahmed Saeed Al Calily, Abu Dhabi Ports Company’s managing director.
“We are very happy to welcome the Mubadala-Dubal JV as our first anchor tenant, and we look forward to working together on this significant undertaking.”
The new Sheikh Khalifa Port and industrial area are considered an essential part of a strategy aimed at stepping up the pace of development in the UAE’s economic, industrial and tourism fields.
The new port will include a container handling terminal and piers for handling raw and bulk cargoes. It will be designed and developed to the highest international standards in an environmentally sustainable manner and be capable of handling the largest types of ships. The project also entails an industrial estate along with ancillary and supporting commercial and residential developments. The first phase should be ready in the next four years
The industrial zone, which is being developed through public-private partnerships, will play a major role in the generation of traffic for the new port and will host major basic industries.
The Taweelah aluminium project is perhaps the most important investment made by Mubadala in the UAE and reflects the Abu Dhabi government’s policy to make strong forays into diverse fields beyond oil, a sector for which the emirate is well known.
In recent months, Mubadala announced it is participating in a consortium to build a power and desalination plant in Barka, Oman, and acquire an existing power plant in the sultanate.
It has a diversified portfolio of local, regional and international investments. Its international investments include the Dutch fleet management giant LeasePlan Corporation (25 per cent stake), and a stake in nine oil exploration blocks in Libya. Stakes are also held in the Swiss aircraft and engine services provider SR Technics (40 per cent), the Italian luxury car manufacturer Ferrari (5 per cent), and Piaggio Aero Industries (35 per cent).
In the UAE and wider Gulf region, Mubadala has invested in and developed a number of leading projects including the first GCC cross-border natural gas project, Dolphin Energy (51 per cent majority stake), Aldar Properties, National Central Cooling Company, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi, Injazat Data Systems, and the Mukhaizna Oil Field developments in Oman.