Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) took the next step in its Industry 4.0 Transformational Journey by commissioning the Online Performance System at its power stations. With this in place, operators at Alba’s power stations will be able to quickly and easily view real time and historical data regarding the overall health of the system.
In addition, the Online Performance System allows operators to create high-level reports regarding the state of the power stations, diagnose issues with equipment at the stations, and automate routine calculations. The system also presents users with the ability to identify trends in the data and to diagnose its performance.
Per the firm, the Online Performance System offers users a digital performance dashboard and uses artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0 to improve the reliability of Alba’s assets.
Several company officials were present at the commissioning, which took place last Tuesday.
Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali said in a press release that the commissioning of the new system represents a major step forward for the company.
“The first step in our journey towards digital transformation is changing the way we think and do our business.”
“By integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in our Power Assets, we will have better control of our Power Operations, leverage instant real data to boost our productivity and optimise our Power Plants’ performance,” he continued.
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is the world’s biggest aluminium smelter outside the People’s Republic of China. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2022 Alba’s smelter produced 1,600,111 metric tons of primary aluminium.
