Barakah Unit 2 begins to deliver clean electricity
The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) on Tuesday announced that following the start up of Unit 2 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in late August, its operations and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company, has safely and successfully connected the unit to the UAE grid, delivering the first megawats of carbonfree electricity from the second of four units at the Barakah Plant.
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 megawats of emissions-free electricity from this unit now being dispatched to businesses, schools and homes.
Ater the safe and successful start-up of Unit 2 on Aug.27, 2021, the Barakah Plant became the first multi-unit operating nuclear plant in the UAE and Arab World.
This reflects the UAE’S expertise in meeting stringent national regulations and international standards, as well as the leading skills, qualifications and competencies of the Emirati-led teams who have achieved this milestone at the plant.
Suhail Bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, has praised the progress made in the UAE’S transition to clean energy sources in alignment with the guidance of the nation’s wise leadership.
These efforts contribute to achieving the goals of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to increase the share of clean energy in the total energy mix to 50%, he said.
Al Mazrouei made this statement while commenting on the safe and successful connection of Unit 2 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, to the UAE grid. Unit 2 is now generating the first megawats of clean electricity, five months ater the start of commercial operations for Unit 1 of the Plant.
The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has said that the successful connection of the Unit 2 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to the UAE grid is another historic milestone for the UAE Nuclear Energy Programme, which will lead to the full commercial operation of Unit 2.
In a statement issued on the occasion, FANR said, “Since issuing the Operating License in March 2021 for Unit 2 of Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has continued its regulatory oversight: starting with fuel loading, testing, including the first criticality phase until connecting the unit to the UAE national electricity transmission grid to produce electricity. FANR confirms that Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), the operator, has met all regulatory requirements to initiate this phase. The milestone follows extensive oversight, including regular inspection, to ensure the safety and security of the nuclear power Plant.
The Barakah Plant continues to set new benchmarks for new build nuclear programmes. The cumulative knowledge and expertise developed by the operations teams on Unit 1 has been used to connect Unit 2 to the grid more efficiently, with a 10% reduction in the time between startup and connection while in parallel, ensuring the highest standards of nuclear safety and operational excellence continue to be applied.
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). Throughout this process, the Unit 2 systems follow international best practice to safely progress and test the Unit as it proceeds towards full electricity production. All of the lessons learned from Unit 1 connection have been integrated as part of Nawah’s commitment to operating excellence.
Once the process is completed, Unit 2 will deliver thousands of additional megawats 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. This is in addition to over 42 missions and assessments by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).
At full capacity, the unit will add 1,400MW of carbon-free electricity to the grid; minister praises Barakah’s role in consolidating UAE’S leading position in energy sector; move is a historic milestone: FANR.