Hatta's hydroelectric power plant is now 44 per cent complete, officials said on Monday.
The station in the emirate of Dubai will have a production capacity of 250 megawatts once finished and a storage capacity of up to 1,500 megawatt hours, plus a lifespan of up to 80 years.
The plant is the only one of its kind in the GCC region, and investment in the project totals Dh1.421 billion ($387m).
The facility was visited by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority chief executive Saeed Al Tayer, as well as Nasser Lootah, executive VP of Generation at Dewa, Mansoor Alsuwaidi, VP of Projects & Engineering (Generation) and Khalifa Albedwawi, the project manager.
Mr Al Tayer inspected the construction of the power generators and the upper dam during his visit.
The first 37-metre roller-compacted concrete wall has been completed at the project’s upper dam. Work is underway on the 70m main dam wall. Mr Al Tayer also reviewed the work progress of the 1.2-kilometre subterranean tunnel that connects the two dams.
To function, water stored in the upper dam will flow through the underground tunnel, rotating turbines. The mechanical energy from the rotating turbines is then converted into electrical energy and sent to the Dewa power grid.
To reuse the water, clean energy generated by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is used to pump it back through the tunnel and return it to the upper dam. This means the project is 100 per cent renewable.
The power plant's response to heightened demand for energy will be less than 90 seconds.
Plans are in the works for Hatta to become a bucket-list destination, and projects include a 5.4km cable car route — Dubai Mountain Peak — at an altitude of 1,300m (the summit of Jebel Umm Al Nisour), and Hatta Sustainable Waterfalls.
Up to 500 jobs have been created as a result of the projects.
