The second unit of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has been successfully connected to the UAE power grid two weeks after start-up of the reactor was completed in late August…reports Asian Lite News
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) on Tuesday announced that its operations and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company, has safely and successfully connected the unit to the UAE grid, delivering the first megawatts of carbon-free electricity from the second of four units at the Barakah Plant.
After the start-up in August, the Barakah Plant became the first multi-unit operating nuclear plant in the UAE and Arab World.
With the Unit 2 grid connection successfully completed, the Unit is in preparation to adding a further 1,400MW of clean electricity capacity to the UAE grid, with the first megawatts of emissions-free electricity from this unit now being dispatched to businesses, schools and homes.
This milestone takes ENEC and its subsidiaries another step closer to the half-way mark of its goal to supply up to a quarter of the country’s electricity needs 24/7, while driving reductions in carbon emissions – the leading cause of climate change.
During grid connection, the Unit 2 generator was integrated and synchronised with the requirements of the UAE’s national electricity transmission grid, ahead of the start of commercial operations.
With the integration and connection complete, Unit 2’s nuclear operators will begin the process of gradually raising the power levels of the reactor, known as Power Ascension Testing (PAT).
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Once the process is completed, Unit 2 will deliver thousands of additional megawatts of clean baseload electricity for decades to come. This testing will be conducted under the continued oversight of the UAE’s independent nuclear regulator, FANR, which has now conducted more than 335 inspections since the start of Barakah’s development.
By powering millions of businesses and households with abundant, clean electricity from the Barakah Plant, ENEC is leading the largest decarbonisation effort in the region, as the Plant now is the largest single source of clean electricity in the UAE and the Arab World.
The Barakah Plant, located in the Al Dhafra region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, is one of the largest nuclear energy plants in the world, with four APR-1400 units. Construction of the Plant began in 2012 and has progressed steadily ever since.
