Unit 3 of UAE’s Barakah nuclear energy plant starts up

Unit 3 of the UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has started up.

The third unit will be connected to the national grid in the ‘coming weeks’, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has announced.

The operating licence for Unit 3 was issued in June this year.

Read: Unit 3 of UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant receives operating licence

.@ENEC_UAE has completed start-up of Unit 3 of Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, operated by @NawahEnergy, #inAbuDhabi. The milestone advances the plant’s goal to supply 25 per cent of the UAE’s total electricity demand. pic.twitter.com/mL4OlqrC3u

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) September 22, 2022

Upon being commercially operational, Unit 3 will add another 1,400 megawatts of zero-carbon emission electricity capacity to the national grid. The clean electricity generated at Barakah is sustainably powering homes, business and high-tech industries across the UAE, Abu Dhabi Government Media Office reported.

Unit 3 has started up 12 months after Unit 2, demonstrating steady progress towards Barakah’s full operation. The plant will generate 5.6GW of power across all four units when fully operational, significantly contributing to UAE decarbonisation efforts.

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@admediaoffice) September 22, 2022

Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, managing director and chief executive Officer of ENEC, said: “The Barakah Plant is spearheading the decarbonisation of the power sector, sustainably generating abundant electricity to meet growing demand and power growth.

“Thanks to the data-driven decisions of the UAE’s wise leadership, Barakah is now spearheading domestic energy security and sustainability in parallel, at the time of a global energy crisis, highlighting the unique capabilities of nuclear energy in solving energy security and sustainability in parallel.”

Nawah, the joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of ENEC and the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), have been progressing through a testing programme, prior to completing the start-up of the third nuclear energy reactor of the Barakah Plant.

The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), UAE’s independent nuclear regulator has overseen the testing. It follows the World Association of Nuclear Operators’ (WANO) completion of a pre-start-up review (PSUR), prior to receiving the operating licence.

The unit 3 of the plant will be connected to the national electricity grid in coming weeks and nuclear operators will continue with gradually raising power levels, known as power ascension testing (PAT). The process will be monitored and tested until maximum electricity production is reached, the statement added.

Unit 4 of the plant is in final stages of commissioning prior to completion of construction. Unit 2 of the plant started commercial operations in March.

Read: UAE: Unit 2 of Barakah nuclear energy plant starts commercial operations

The second unit joined Unit 1 which achieved commercial operation in April 2021.

Read: Unit 1 of UAE’s Barakah Plant starts commercial operations

When fully operational, the Barakah nuclear power plant will prevent 22.4 million tons of carbon emissions every year and will generate 5.6GW of power across all four units.