Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has appointed Alstom Power as their Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contractor for the power-station portion of the Line 5 Project. The $330 million Line 5 power station project is part of the $1.7 billion expansion, which is expected to be completed by February 2005.
A letter of acceptance was recently signed between the two parties and work on finalizing the agreement will start immediately. Under this agreement, Alstom Power will manage the various contracts and procurements of the Line 5 power station to meet the program and budget targets agreed between the two parties.
The appointment of Alstom Power as the project's EPC contractor follows a careful review and a transparent assessment of the potential power-station bidders with regards to their technical and economic capabilities.
“During the tendering period, four of the organizations approached advised us that they would not be submitting tenders for the project. Only Alstom Power, Siemens Power Generation, Bechtel Power Corporation and Hyundai Heavy Industries submitted their tenders for the project,” said Alba Line 5 General Manager, Niall O'Byrne.
The completion of the Line 5 Project will position Alba as the largest smelter in the world outside of Eastern Europe. The expansion will create an estimated 500 jobs and will include a new power station, carbon, casthouse and other facilities.
The Line 5 Project is in line with Alba’s recently approved expansion scheme. In line with its Five-Year Business Plan, the initiative will increase Alba's coke calcining plant capacity, upgrade casting facilities, introduce a new pot removal crane system for Lines 1-3 and automate the monitoring of environmental emissions from the Reduction Lines.
Alba is a 520,000-ton per annum aluminium smelter. As well as its reduction lines and casthouses, the company has a carbon department and a 1,500-megawatt power plant. A 450,000-ton per annum coke calcining plant is also in operation at the company's marine terminal. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
