The achievement will support Qatalum’s vision of becoming a sustainable economic catalyst, using Qatar's gas energy to create aluminium.
“It has been a challenging goal that both owners have been striving towards. We’ve experienced setbacks, but these have contributed in creating the current strong team that, together, will bring operational excellence to the forefront,” says Qatalum CEO Tom Petter Johansen.
With a first phase production capacity of 585kt/y from 704 cells, Qatalum will enable Qatar to contribute a significant portion towards GCC aluminium production.
During 2011, Qatalum reached various milestones on its way towards full operation. In January, the plant had ramped up 352 cells – the whole of potline 2 and half of the plant’s total capacity. This was followed, in June, by approval from the London Metal Exchange (LME) Executive Committee as an LME deliverable brand.
In August, the last section of the two potlines became fully energised. The captive 1350 MW Power Plant was fully commissioned and constituted to reliable power being supplied for the operation of all 704 pots