Barakah Unit 2 back online after routine maintenance

Unit 2 of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant is back up and running following routine maintenance and refuelling.

The process involved shutting the reactor down, carrying out more than 8,000 separate maintenance activities and replacing about a third of the fuel assembles in the reactor core, with the remaining fuel re-configured for optimal operation.

Units 1 and 3 continued to operate normally throughout the process.

Having already completed the Unit 1 refuelling and maintenance outage last year, the operational teams utilised the significant operating experience gained to streamline the process for Unit 2. 

With three units operating at maximum capacity, Barakah already generates more than 80 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s clean electricity. 

The four Units at Barakah, once all commercially operational, will generate up to 5,600 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity around the clock, equivalent to almost 40 per cent of the UAE’s peak demand of about 15,000 MW during summer.

The plant will meet up to 25 per cent of the UAE’s electricity needs, generating enough clean electricity to power up to 574,000 homes. This will be done whilst also supporting the UAE’s strategy for becoming a net-exporter of LNG (liquefied natural gas) by 2030 by replacing local gas consumption with clean electricity from nuclear.

Barakah will divert up to $4 billion-worth of natural gas annually, which can be used for other energy needs or for international export.

Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant’s Unit 2 back online to provide continuous clean electricity#WamNews https://t.co/7DgD6JQh0M

— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) April 24, 2023