Enec energises Unit 3 transformers at Barakah nuclear plant

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, United Arab Emirates. 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.

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 a 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, and we continue to establish Barakah as the benchmark for new nuclear construction projects worldwide,” said Eng. 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. HFT takes place over a number of weeks and consists of almost 200 individual and integrated tests performed on major systems to check their performance under normal operational conditions, without the presence of nuclear fuel assemblies in the reactor vessel.

The construction of the Barakah plant is progressing steadily; the latest construction completion percentages show that Unit 2 stands at 95%, Unit 3 is more than 91%, and Unit 4 is more than 82%, while the overall construction completion percentage is more than 93%. The construction of Unit 1 has been completed in accordance with the highest global standards of quality and safety, and it is currently undergoing commissioning and testing, prior to regulatory review and receipt of the Operating Licence from the FANR. All four units will deliver clean, efficient and reliable electricity to the UAE, preventing the release of up to 21 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.