Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, has broken ground on the region’s first 100% renewable energy powered industrial data centres at its Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah sites.

The new data centres will enable EGA to further deploy artificial intelligence and automation solutions at the heart of the company’s industrial operations, while reducing EGA’s total IT energy consumption by 50% through real-time Artificial Intelligence-optimised power, cooling management and latest generation computer infrastructure.

EGA is developing the new data centres with local technology provider, Scientechnic. The construction is a key part of EGA’s digital roadmap, which is transforming EGA’s operations through Industry 4.0 adoption and broader digital transformation.

The data centres will improve the resilience of EGA’s computing and will be certified to the Uptime Institute’s Tier III standard, a global benchmark for data centres.

Around the world, computing accounts for approximately 7% of global electricity consumption, and this is forecast to rise to 13% by 2030, according to the European Commission.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “EGA’s bold aspiration to innovate the future of aluminium production is a source of our global competitive advantage, and this includes leading our sector in the implementation of Industry 4.0. Our new data centres, combined with our existing cloud computing resources, transform our data processing capacity. Improving the environmental sustainability of EGA’s computing infrastructure is part of our commitment to embed sustainability in everything we do. The construction of EGA’s new on-site data centres is an important milestone in our goal to establish a thriving manufacturing innovation ecosystem in the UAE.”

Carlo K Nizam, Chief Digital Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “Our new data centres will optimise the resilience and sustainability of EGA’s digital manufacturing platform which supports data-heavy artificial intelligence and advanced automation solutions. This will help enable EGA’s future ambition of self-optimising artificial intelligence driven plant operations, such as fully-autonomous crane and vehicle operations.”

Last year, EGA announced a strategic collaboration with Microsoft UAE to progress the company’s digital roadmap, shifting two thirds of EGA’s server and applications infrastructure to Microsoft Azure Hybrid Cloud. The hybrid cloud combines computing resources both on-site at EGA and in Microsoft’s data centres.

Both Microsoft and EGA are members of the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology’s Industry 4.0 Champions Network, which aims to accelerate Industry 4.0 adoption across UAE industry.

The development of the data centres and the use of the hybrid cloud together increase EGA’s data processing capacity by 2,300 times while significantly reducing unit processing costs, future proofing EGA’s computing for the company’s digital transformation.

EGA has developed technology in the UAE for more than 30 years and is focused on improving the efficiency of the aluminium smelting process. EGA’s latest home-grown technology is among the most efficient and competitive in the global aluminium industry.

In 2022, EGA spent some $2.18 billion on goods and services from local UAE suppliers, accounting for 39% of the company’s total global procurement spend. EGA is actively working to grow its local supply chain further in line with the UAE’s Operation 300bn industrial growth strategy and ‘Make it in the Emirates’.