Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) on Saturday, March 23, announced that Unit 4 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has been safely and successfully connected to the UAE transmission grid.
It signifies the delivery of the first megawatts of carbon-free electricity from the fourth reactor of the nuclear energy plant.
Unit 4 will add another 1,400 megawatts of clean electricity capacity to power the national grid, representing another significant step forward towards full-fleet operations, the Abu Dhabi Media Office (ADMO) reported.
The Nawah teams at Barakah have worked closely with the Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company (TRANSCO), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PSJC (TAQA), which constructed the overhead lines to connect the Barakah Plant to the Abu Dhabi grid.
Mohamed Al Hammadi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ENEC, said, “We are proud to have achieved another critical milestone for the Barakah Plant, which stands as a testament to the UAE’s leadership in the development of large-scale multi-unit nuclear fleets.”
“Grid connection of Unit 4 puts us well on the path to full-fleet commercial operations, and with that, the ability to generate 40TWh of clean, baseload electricity annually to drive our Net Zero economy, offering a competitive edge to many businesses, decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries, while presenting a global benchmark for the entire nuclear energy industry,” he added.
Each unit has been connected to the grid more efficiently than the previous unit, as institutional knowledge and experience are applied to each subsequent unit.
Unit 3 was delivered four months faster than the Unit 2 schedule, and five months faster than the Unit 1 schedule, demonstrating the significant benefit of building multiple units within a phased timeline.
