UAE nuclear plant’s Unit 3 launches commercial operations

UAE nuclear plant’s Unit 3 launches commercial operations

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has announced that its operating and maintenance subsidiary Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), has commenced commercial operations of Unit 3 of Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in the Al Dhafra Region of Abu Dhabi.

On the key milestone, Nawah said Unit 3 of the Barakah Plant has completed the process from Fuel Load to Commercial Operations more than four months faster than Unit 2 and more than five months faster than Unit 1.

This demonstrates how the operations teams utilised and implemented the experience gained from the previous two units, while adhering to all national regulations and international standards, as confirmed by assessments of the UAE regulator FANR and the World Association of Nuclear Operators.

According to Enec, the third unit has been delivered efficiently and in one of the shortest time-frames compared to other third-generation reactors built worldwide, demonstrating a new era for nuclear new-build.

As the third unit to be delivered in three consecutive years, this major accomplishment adds a further 1,400 MW of zero-carbon emission electricity capacity, boosting total production from Units 1, 2 and 3 of Barakah to 4,200MW of baseload, reliable, clean electricity for the UAE national grid.

The first multi-unit operating plant in the Arab World,