Minister of Climate Change visits Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to witness energy decarbonization
Minister of Climate Change visits Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to witness energy decarbonization.
ABU DHABI, TGO: Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, has visited the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, where she witnessed the progress of the Plant and its growing contribution to the decarbonization of the UAE’s power sector, supporting it to achieve its Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
Almheiri was welcomed by Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Managing Director and CEO of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC); Ali Al Hammadi, CEO of Nawah Energy Company (Nawah), ENEC’s subsidiary mandated to operate and maintain the Barakah Plant; Nasser Al Nasseri, CEO 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 a number of 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 in March 2022, generating abundant clean electricity every day.
Almheiri stated, “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 brings us closer to meeting our climate neutrality ambitions by 2050.”
Al Hammadi said, “We were delighted to welcome 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 and looking to the future. 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 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.
