ENEC's operating and maintenance subsidiary Nawah Energy Company (Nawah) has completed the process of loading fuel assemblies into Unit 4 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, ENEC said on Tuesday
The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), the UAE's independent nuclear regulator, recently issued the operating license for Unit 4 to Nawah.
Once operational, Unit 4, the final Unit of Barakah, will enable the plant to generate 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs for the next sixty years. The three current commercially operating Units at Barakah, delivered in three consecutive years, are already generating more than 30TWh of zero-emission electricity every year. Unit 4 will raise the Barakah Plant’s total clean electricity generation capacity to 5.6GW, delivering more than 40TWh of clean electricity per year, once commercial operations begin.
The operations team will safely progress through a comprehensive testing program, prior to successfully completing the start-up of Unit 4. Testing is undertaken under the continued oversight of FANR. Once Unit 4 is connected to the national electricity grid, the operations team will continue with the process of gradually raising power levels, known as Power Ascension Testing (PAT). The phase will be continuously monitored and tested until maximum electricity production is reached, while adhering to all regulatory requirements and the highest international standards of safety, quality and security.
ENEC is also focused on evaluating the latest technologies in the advanced, Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and microreactor categories. These solutions can generate clean electrons and molecules, such as steam, hydrogen and ammonia, as well as process heat for industrial processes. ENEC, the UAE’s only mandated nuclear energy developer, is working with national stakeholders to determine deployment pathways, and with international partners for both technology and project collaboration opportunities.
