UAE - Mubasher: The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) announced the successful connection of Unit 1 of Al Dhafrah-based Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to the UAE national grid.
ENEC's operations and maintenance subsidiary, Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), and the Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company (TRANSCO), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), have cooperated in the Unit 1 connection, according to a press release on Wednesday.
This connection marks the first megawatts of clean electricity from peaceful nuclear energy to be delivered to the UAE grid, following Nawah's success in launching the plant's operational processes late July 2020.
To connect Unit 1 with the Abu Dhabi electricity grid, TRANSCO has constructed 952 kilometres of 400 kV overhead lines to ensure that the UAE's citizens have safe and reliable power.
The CEO of ENEC, Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, said: "We are confident in our people and our technology to continue to progress to reach commercial operations, and the completion of the remaining three units, with the goal to power up to 25% of the UAE’s electricity needs for at least the next 60 years."
Meanwhile, the CEO of TRANSCO, Afif Saif Al Yafei, remarked: "The integration of Unit 1 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant is an important step towards increasing clean energy generation capacity to the grid."
