Barakah-backed MinimAL shipped to Egypt as UAE’s first nuclear-powered low‑carbon aluminium, certification and scale now in focus

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) have announced what they describe as the UAE’s first delivery of low‑carbon aluminium produced using electricity from the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. This development, they say, marks a step change in the country’s industrial decarbonisation. Honestly, it’s framed as a milestone, but the real question is how it translates into practice across industries.

The metal, sold by EGA under the MinimAL brand, has been delivered to CANEX Aluminium of Egypt, a prominent downstream producer. The joint release notes that the electricity used to make the batch is certified under Abu Dhabi’s Clean Energy Certification programme and tracked through International REC (I‑REC) protocols to provide traceability and guard against double counting. EWEC—the Emirates Water and Electricity Company—supplied the power via the national grid and acts as the single registrant and auction operator for the certification scheme.

Mohamed Al Hammadi, ENEC’s managing director and chief executive, said the milestone demonstrates “how nuclear energy is boosting national energy security and enabling the UAE’s industrial decarbonisation in parallel, reliably powering energy‑intensive sectors like aluminium production with clean electricity 24/7.” ENEC also points to the recent commercial start‑up of Unit 4 at Barakah, which, they say, completed the plant’s four‑unit fleet and enables the full output cited in the announcement. You see, it’s presented as a logical culmination of ongoing progress.

ENEC and other UAE agencies place Barakah’s full‑fleet output at roughly 40 terawatt‑hours of zero‑carbon electricity a year — about a quarter of the country’s needs — and estimate the plant will avoid some 22.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The operator has likened the plant’s annual generation to the power consumption of a country such as Switzerland and, in public materials, has offered equivalence figures such as removing the emissions of several million cars to illustrate scale. ENEC also emphasises the project’s regulatory checks, saying the plant underwent rigorous inspections and international reviews before commercial operation.

For EGA, MinimAL extends an already existing strategy to sell low‑embedded‑carbon aluminium. Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, EGA’s chief executive, said global demand for low‑carbon aluminium is expected to rise sharply through 2040 and that MinimAL positions EGA to meet that market. The group already markets recycled metal under the RevivAL brand and produced solar‑powered aluminium — CelestiAL — in 2024, when it reported making around 80,000 tonnes using solar electricity. EGA is also building a large recycling complex at Al Taweelah, which the company says will have 170,000 tonnes per year capacity and is expected to start producing “hot metal” in the first half of 2026.

CANEX’s managing director, Mutassem Daaboul, said the company’s upcycling model and downstream capabilities will be complemented by sourcing lower‑carbon primary metal, adding that “true sustainability is built into every layer of production — from the raw material to the final product.” CANEX’s role as the named recipient is consistent with its profile as a major regional downstream aluminium producer.

The supply chain and certification route are central to the claim that the metal is low carbon. EWEC’s Clean Energy Certificates programme issues certificates in 1 MWh units that conform to the I‑REC Standard and are managed in an I‑REC registry to ensure traceability, the regulator and programme operator states. Organisations can therefore purchase certificates through EWEC’s auction mechanism to substantiate claims about their clean electricity consumption and reduce scope‑2 emissions in a transparent way, according to the scheme documentation.

Industry observers welcomed the demonstration of low‑carbon aluminium production using nuclear‑generated electricity, noting that aluminium smelting is highly energy‑intensive and that the carbon intensity of grid electricity has a direct effect on embedded emissions. EGA points to a portfolio approach — combining solar‑backed CelestiAL, recycled RevivAL and now nuclear‑backed MinimAL — as a route to offer customers differing low‑carbon options depending on application and price. It’s not just hype, they say; it’s a framework for choices.

At the same time, the use of nuclear power as an input raises distinct debates. Proponents stress nuclear’s ability to provide large volumes of stable, 24‑hour low‑carbon electricity that complements intermittent renewables and supports heavy industry; critics point to concerns around nuclear waste management, long lead times for stations and the political and regulatory complexities of scaling new nuclear capacity. ENEC has highlighted the regulatory oversight and international reviews accompanying Barakah’s delivery to address safety and governance questions.

The announcement also underscores a commercial trend: manufacturers and corporate buyers increasingly seek lower‑embedded‑carbon materials across supply chains, driven by regulatory pressure, investor scrutiny and customer demand. Whether the market for products such as MinimAL can scale rapidly will depend on factors including the volume of certified low‑carbon electricity made available to industry, the cost premium (if any) for certified metal, and the robustness of certification and tracking systems that buyers trust.

EGA and ENEC frame the Barakah‑powered delivery as both a national achievement and a commercial opportunity to export low‑carbon industrial inputs. Their claims rest on the continued operation of the Barakah units at scale and on the integrity of the certification framework administered by EWEC. For buyers focused on reducing scope‑3 emissions from materials, the development offers a new pathway — but one whose wider impact will be determined by the transparency of certificate flows, the prices companies are prepared to pay for lower‑carbon metal, and the broader mix of renewable and recycled aluminium available in global markets. It’s a promising route, yet still one that will ride on how smoothly the systems function in practice and whether buyers trust the certificates enough to pay a premium.

Source: Noah Wire Services