Dubai: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Dewa, has awarded the Dh58 million consultancy contract for the pumped-storage hydroelectric power station at Hatta Dam to France’s EDF.
The project is the first of its kind in the Arabian Gulf, with a total capacity of 250MW, and is expected to last between 60 and 80 years.
The consultancy contract covers design, hydro-geological, geological, environmental, geotechnical, and deep excavation studies. It also includes consultancy on deepwater tunnel designs, the dam and hydroelectric power station, the tender for material supply, supervision of construction work, site installation, on-site testing and commissioning.
Upper reservoir
DEWA will build the hydroelectric power station to generate electricity by making use of the existing water stored in the Hatta Dam, which can store up to 1,716 million gallons, and an upper reservoir that will be built in the mountain that can store up to 880 million gallons. The upper reservoir will be 300 metres above the dam level. During off-peak hours, turbines that use clean and cheap solar energy will pump water from the lower dam to the upper reservoir.
During peak-load hours, when production costs are high, turbines operated by the speed of waterfall from the upper reservoir will be used to generate electricity and connect it to Dewa’s grid. The efficiency of power production will reach 90 per cent with a 90-second response to demand for electricity.
