The fourth and final unit of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has been completed, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) announced on Tuesday.
It takes Barakah, the largest single source of clean electricity in the Middle East, one step closer to full fleet operations.
Once ready, Unit 4 will generate 25 per cent of the country’s electricity needs for the next 60 years, according to Wam, the state news agency.
The next step before completion is a round of safety tests by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).
Joining the grid
When Unit 4 is connected to the national electricity grid, the operations team will continue to gradually raise power levels, known as Power Ascension Testing.
This process will be continuously monitored and tested until maximum electricity production is reached.
It is hoped Unit 4 will start up early next year. Once open, Barakah will be fully operational.
The plant is seen as being key to the UAE’s clean energy transition and the push towards net zero by 2050.
FANR issued the first operating licence for Barakah's Unit 1 in February 2020 and another for Unit 2 in March 2021.
Commercial operations at Unit 1 started in April 2021. In its first year, it prevented the release of more than five million tonnes of carbon emissions by replacing the power that would previously have been generated by fossil fuels.
It was the equivalent of more than “one million cars driven for a year”, Enec said at the time.
By 2025, the Barakah plant is expected to produce 85 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s clean electricity and will be the biggest contributor to reducing the national power sector’s carbon emissions.
