Gulf Construction Online - Milestone for Barakah plant

UAE Focus

Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant ... being built in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.

Milestone for Barakah plant

01 September 2019

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has achieved another milestone in the construction of Unit 3 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, being built at the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi.

Enec has safely and successfully energised Unit 3’s main power transformer and gas insulated bus (GIB), an important step in the continued testing and commissioning of the plant, said Enec.

In addition to the main transformer and GIB, Unit 3’s auxiliary power transformers and excitation transformer were energised safely and successfully in normal operating configuration. This work was performed with the approval and support of Abu Dhabi Transmission & Despatch Company (Transco), and comes approximately one year after the completion of similar work on Unit 2, and two years after the completion of the same work on Unit 1, demonstrating the benefits of building four identical units at the same time.

“I am proud of the continued progress being made at Unit 3 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. We have maintained our track record of safety and efficiency with the successful energisation of the unit’s transformers,” said Engineer Mohamed Al Hammadi, chief executive officer of Enec. “This construction milestone was achieved as a result of our extensive collaboration with our prime contractor and joint venture partner, the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), as well as expert teams from Nawah Energy Company and Abu Dhabi Transmission & Despatch Company.”

With the accomplishment of this milestone, the testing and commissioning teams will begin preparing for the commencement of hot functional testing (HFT) at Unit 3, implementing the lessons learned during their testing of Units 1 and 2.

The construction of the Barakah plant is progressing steadily with the latest construction completion percentages showing that Unit 2 stands at 95 per cent, Unit 3 is more than 91 per cent, and Unit 4 is more than 82 per cent, while the overall construction completion is more than 93 per cent.

All four units will deliver clean, efficient and reliable electricity to the UAE, preventing the release of up to 21 million tons of carbon emissions each year, Enec said.