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UAE Minister visits Barakah nuclear power plant

Once operational, the four Units of the Barakah Plant will produce up to a quarter of the UAE’s electricity

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, visited the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.

She witnessed the progress of the plant and its growing contribution to the decarbonization of the UAE’s power sector. This will supporting the UAE to achieve its Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.

Almheiri was welcomed by His Excellency Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), Engineer Ali Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), ENEC’s subsidiary mandated to operate and maintain the Barakah Plant, Nasser Al Nasseri, Chief Executive Officer of Barakah One Company, ENEC’s subsidiary responsible for the financial aspects of the Plant, and senior leadership members.

The Minister received an update on the project, toured several the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant facilities, and met with some of the key members of the Emirati-led team operating and maintaining the Arab world’s first multi-unit nuclear energy plant and the UAE’s sustainable powerhouse.

She witnessed the progress at Unit 1 which has been commercially operating since April 2021, and Unit 2 which started commercial operations on March 2022, generating abundant clean electricity every day.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri said: “Increasing the share of clean energy in the power mix is a pillar of the UAE’s climate action and its shift to low-carbon green economy to achieve sustainable economic development in line with the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. The Barakah Plant significantly supports our energy transition, considerably reducing greenhouse gas emissions and slashing the country’s carbon footprint, which advances our climate action and bring us closer to meeting our climate neutrality ambitions by 2050.”

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Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Managing Director and CEO of ENEC, said: “We were delighted to welcome Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri to the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, which has become a sustainable powerhouse for the Nation over the past 12 months, generating abundant emissions-free electricity 24/7 for the Nation. The Plant is a key enabler for our Nation’s Net Zero target and we are committing to steadily decarbonizing the power sector over the coming years, as well as looking to the future and we now have our eyes set on commissioning Units 3 and 4 as we continue to progress the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy industry for decades to come.”

The construction of the Barakah Plant started in 2012 and progressed steadily since then. The development of the Barakah Plant as a whole is now more than 96 percent complete.

Once operational, the four Units of the Barakah Plant will produce up to a quarter of the UAE’s electricity needs and will prevent 22.4 million tons of carbon emissions every year. By 2025, the Barakah Plant will be producing 85 percent of Abu Dhabi’s clean electricity and will be the biggest contributor to reducing Abu Dhabi’s carbon emissions by 50 percent.