Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) on Saturday announced that its operations and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company, has connected Unit 4 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to the UAE’s transmission grid.
Grid connection 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 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 CEO 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...”
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.
