India's National Aluminium Company (NALCO) Introduces DX+ Ultra Technology in 500,000-Tonne Smelter Expansion

en.Wedoany.com Reported - National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has signed a technology licensing agreement with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) to deploy the DX+ Ultra aluminium electrolysis smelting technology for a new 500,000-tonne-per-year capacity expansion at its existing aluminium smelting complex in Anugul, Odisha. The scope of the agreement covers technology licensing, know-how, design documentation and technical information required for project execution, and EGA will also provide technical support during various project implementation stages.

The project is a brownfield expansion of an existing smelter, adding approximately 500,000 tonnes per year of aluminium capacity. Upon completion of the expansion, NALCO's aluminium production capacity will rise toward approximately 1 million tonnes per year. The company had previously initiated preliminary work including a detailed project report, land acquisition and environmental approvals, and the signing of this technology licence has determined the core potline technology route to be adopted for the subsequent expansion works.

DX+ Ultra is a high-amperage aluminium electrolysis technology. It has already been industrialised at EGA's own facilities and was previously licensed for Aluminium Bahrain's (Alba) Potline 6 project, which is equipped with 424 DX+ Ultra reduction cells. According to EGA's published existing industrial operating data, the reduction cells at the Bahrain project have been operating above the original design level of 460 kA, achieving a current efficiency of approximately 95% at an operating current of 465 kA, with specific power consumption of approximately 12.87 kWh/kg of aluminium.

This technology licence directly corresponds to the design and engineering execution of the Anugul expansion project. According to NALCO's announcement, in addition to providing the licence, EGA will also supply know-how, engineering design and related technical documentation, and provide technical support at all project stages, thereby extending the scope of cooperation from a pure intellectual property licence to support for the execution of the expansion project.

The additional 500,000 tonnes per year of electrolytic aluminium capacity also brings new power configuration requirements. NALCO has formed a 50:50 joint venture with NLC India, planning to add 4×270 MW, totalling 1,080 MW, of coal-fired generating capacity in phases within the existing captive power plant at Anugul; the two parties will also deploy 200–250 MW of firm renewable energy. NALCO has stated that the smelter expansion is expected to require approximately 800 MW of additional firm captive power, with the smelter expansion targeted for commissioning in 2030–2031.

NALCO's previous annual reports indicated that the project had initiated land acquisition and environmental permitting procedures, and that the detailed project report was planned to be completed after the technology licensor was determined. With the formal signing of the DX+ Ultra technology licence, this prerequisite of the technology route has been secured, and the subsequent engineering chain will continue to involve detailed design, environmental approvals, power infrastructure and main construction works.