The reactor of Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved 50 percent of its electricity production capacity, announced Nawah Energy Company or Nawah, the joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), reports WAM.

The achievement was announced on the sidelines of the 64th Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, where the UAE hosted a side event entitled ‘UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme: The Journey’.

Reaching 50 percent power at Unit 1 of Barakah is an important step in the process of Power Ascension Testing (PAT), and comes at a historic time for the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme. It is now one month since the UAE announced that it had safely and successfully began synchronising Unit 1 to the UAE transmission grid and dispatching the first megawatts of clean electricity from the Barakah Plant to the Nation.

A delegation from the UAE including Hamad Al Kaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the IAEA; Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, CEO of ENEC; Christer Viktorsson, Director General of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulations, FANR; and Ali Al Hammadi, CEO of Nawah, is currently participating in the 64th Annual Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference being held from September 21-25 at Vienna, Austria. The conference has brought together high-ranking officials and representatives from the IAEA member-states, both physically and virtually, to discuss a range of nuclear energy topics.

The UAE’s participation comes as Nawah gradually raises the power levels of Unit 1 of the Barakah Plant – over a number of months – as a part of the ongoing Power Ascension Testing. Throughout this process, the Unit’s systems are tested in line with national regulatory requirements and international best practice as the operations team safely makes progress towards full electricity production. Once the process is completed, Unit 1 will enter commercial operations and deliver abundant baseload electricity for up to 18 months prior to refuelling, demonstrating how efficient and reliable nuclear energy is at generating clean electricity 24/7.

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On August 19, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced that its operations and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company, TRANSCO – a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company – has safely and successfully connected Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to the UAE grid, and is despatching its first megawatts of clean electricity to the nation, WAM reported.

During the process, the generator in Unit 1 was integrated and synchronised with the requirements of the UAE’s national electricity transmission grid.

Unit 1 connection, also referred to as ‘grid synchronisation’, marks the first time clean electricity produced at the plant is delivered to the UAE national grid. This follows the safe and successful start-up of Unit 1 at the end of July 2020 by Nawah. Since then, the operations team has run a series of tests, steadily increasing the power levels to ultimately generate the first megawatts of baseload electricity produced by the Barakah plant, located in the Al Dhafrah Region of Abu Dhabi.

With clean electricity from peaceful nuclear energy now being delivered to homes and business across the UAE, this is a milestone in the UAE Peaceful Nuclear Energy Programme.

The Barakah plant is supporting electrification and the decarbonisation of the UAE’s energy sector while also advancing economic diversification by creating thousands of high-value jobs through the establishment of a sustainable local nuclear energy industry and supply chain.

Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of ENEC, said, “The successful delivery of electricity to the nation is the result of strong and sustained collaboration with our local and international partners. We extend our full appreciation to TRANSCO, and our prime contractor and Joint Venture partner, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), as well as the many other UAE-based stakeholders and numerous international nuclear organisations who have worked closely with us over the past decade.”

TRANSCO has constructed 952 kilometres of 400 kV overhead lines to connect the Barakah Nuclear Plant Unit 1 to the Abu Dhabi electricity grid.

With the integration and connection complete, Unit 1’s nuclear operators will begin the process of gradually raising the power levels, known as Power Ascension Testing. This testing will be conducted under the UAE’s independent nuclear regulator, FANR, which has now conducted more than 280 inspections since the start of Barakah’s development. This is in addition to over 40 missions and assessments by the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Association of Nuclear Operators.

ENEC recently announced the construction completion of Unit 2, with operational readiness preparations now underway by Nawah. Construction of Units 3 and 4 of the Barakah Plant are in their final stages.

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