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Barakah 2 talks may start in two years

19 March 2025

 

Discussions for the next phase of the UAE's nuclear power plant in Barakah may be delayed by around two years, a source familiar with the plans tells MEED.

The 5.6GW Barakah nuclear power plant's four reactors entered full operations in September last year, which has intensified speculation about when the procurement process for the plant's next phase could start.

"I think they might be considering comparing the tariffs between the next nuclear power plant and the round-the-clock renewable energy project," the source said, referring to the 5.2GW solar photovoltaic plus 19 gigawatt-hour battery energy storage system project in Abu Dhabi, which Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) is developing.

The round-the-clock project is expected to deliver 1GW of 'baseload' renewable power.

In addition, the state utility, Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) does not foresee an additional 2.8GW of nuclear energy installed capacity until 2039, which implies that – given the average 10-year construction period for nuclear power plants – procurement talks "will only likely start sometime between 2027 and 2028".  

Prior to the Barakah nuclear power plant's completion, Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE's permanent representative to the Austria-based International Atomic Energy Agency, was quoted as saying that the tendering process for the UAE's next nuclear power plant could start before the end of 2024.

The government has yet to budget for a second power plant or decide on the size or location of such a project, but Alkaabi said it is possible that a tender could be issued this year, the Reuters report, published in July 2024, said.

However, indications started to emerge in December that the planned second phase of the nuclear power plant could be delayed.

MEED has requested a comment from Emirates Nuclear Energy Company.

Expansion plans

The next phase of the Barakah power plant, comprising reactors five to eight, has been in the planning stage since 2019, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

The UAE became the first Arab state to operate a nuclear power plant when the plant's first reactor became operational in 2021.

Each of the four reactors at the Barakah nuclear power plant can produce 1,400MW of electricity.

The entire plant reached full commercial operations approximately 16 years after Abu Dhabi first announced the project in 2008, and 12 years after construction works commenced on Unit 1.

READ THE MARCH MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

Chinese contractors win record market share; Cairo grapples with political and fiscal challenges; Stronger upstream project spending beckons in 2025

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the March 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

> GULF PROJECTS INDEX: Gulf hits six-month growth streak
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