Final unit of Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant completed

UAE one step closer to full fleet operations at Barakah

The UAE has issued an operating licence for the fourth and final unit of its Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. FANR

Unit three of Abu Dhabi's Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant started commercial operations in February. Photo: Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

A view of the Barakah nuclear site under construction in 2012.

Unit 1 being built in 2013 in the Western region of Abu Dhabi.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation selected a Korean consortium in 2013 to build four APR-1400 reactors. Photo: Enec

Kristine Svinicki, head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, toured the Barakah site in November 2013. Photo: Enec

By August 2014, more than 55 per cent of construction at Unit 1 had been completed. Photo: Enec

The first nuclear reactor at Barakah in 2016. Christopher Pike / The National

The UAE's nuclear energy programme is based in Barakah in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi. Photo: Enec

Trainees learn to deal with potentially catastrophic scenarios at this simulator in Barakah. Christopher Pike / The National

Khalid Naqbi was part of the first batch of resident inspectors sent to the construction site by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation. Ravindranath K / The National

The fourth and final unit of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has been completed, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) announced on Tuesday.

It takes Barakah, the largest single source of clean electricity in the Middle East, one step closer to full fleet operations.

Once ready, Unit 4 will generate 25 per cent of the country’s electricity needs for the next 60 years, according to Wam, the state news agency.

The next step before completion is a round of safety tests by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).

Joining the grid

When Unit 4 is connected to the national electricity grid, the operations team will continue to gradually raise power levels, known as Power Ascension Testing.

This process will be continuously monitored and tested until maximum electricity production is reached.

It is hoped Unit 4 will start up early next year. Once open, Barakah will be fully operational.

The plant is seen as being key to the UAE’s clean energy transition and the push towards net zero by 2050.

FANR issued the first operating licence for Barakah's Unit 1 in February 2020 and another for Unit 2 in March 2021.

Commercial operations at Unit 1 started in April 2021. In its first year, it prevented the release of more than five million tonnes of carbon emissions by replacing the power that would previously have been generated by fossil fuels.

It was the equivalent of more than “one million cars driven for a year”, Enec said at the time.

By 2025, the Barakah plant is expected to produce 85 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s clean electricity and will be the biggest contributor to reducing the national power sector’s carbon emissions.