Plant scheduled for full commercial operation early in 2021 Unit 1 at the Barakah nuclear power station in the United Arab Emirates. Courtesy Enec. The reactor of Unit 1 at the Barakah nuclear power station in the United Arab Emirates has reached 50% of its electricity production capacity and is on schedule to begin full commercial operation early in 2021.

Nawah Energy Company, the joint venture nuclear operations and maintenance subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) and Korea Electric Power Corporation, said reaching 50% power at Unit 1 is an important step in the process of power ascension testing at the plant. 

It comes one month after the synchronisation of Unit 1 to the UAE’s transmission grid and the dispatch of the first megawatts of electricity from the plant.

Throughout this power ascension testing 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.

All four units at the $24bn Barakah facility, the first commercial nuclear station in the Arab world, are Generation III+ APR1400 plants supplied by main contractor and joint venture partner Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco). Each unit is 1,345 MW with a total net installed capacity for the station of 5,380 MW.

The UAE says the Barakah station is “significantly contributing” to its efforts to move towards the electrification of its energy sector and the decarbonisation of electricity production.

Enec recently announced the construction completion of Unit 2, with operational readiness preparations now underway. Construction of Units 3 and 4 is in its final stages, with Unit 3 at 93% completion, Unit 4 at 86% completion, and the overall construction completion of the four units now standing at 94%.