POWER January 2016 - 38

GENERATION TRANSITIONS
Oil- and Gas-Rich UAE Banks on
Nuclear Power
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country flush with fossil fuels, so why
does its government want nuclear power to form the backbone of its electricity
supply? POWER interviewed Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp. CEO
Mohamed Al Hammadi to find the answer and to learn more about the
world's largest in-progress nuclear construction project.
Aaron Larson
L
ocated in the southeastern region of the
Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) is a country about the
size of South Carolina with a population of
roughly 9.4 million people. Its coastlines
form the south and southeastern shores of the
Persian Gulf and part of the western shore of
the Gulf of Oman, and its land borders with
Oman and Saudi Arabia.
According to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration, the UAE is currently the
sixth-largest petroleum producer in the world
and holds the seventh-largest proved reserves
of natural gas. Most of the country's electricity
is generated using natural gas, but as demand
grows, other resources are beginning to
gain traction.
There are plans for nearly 10 GW of
capacity to be added in the UAE by 2021.
Some will come from renewables; leaders
have committed to producing at least 7%
of the nation's total power generation from
renewable sources by 2020. Some coalfired
generation is also being added; the
first phase (two 600-MW units) of a 3,600MW
ultrasupercritical facility is expected
to begin operating in Dubai within five
years. But the largest addition to the mix is
expected to be four Advanced Power Reactor
(APR) 1400 nuclear units currently under
construction at the Barakah site (Figure
1) in the western region of the Emirate of
Abu Dhabi.
POWER interviewed Emirates Nuclear
Energy Corp. (ENEC) CEO Mohamed Al
Hammadi to learn more about the Barakah
project. He talked about some of the challenges
that his company has faced, developing
not only a 5.6-GW facility but also an
entirely new industry for his country. Some
of Mr. Al Hammadi's responses have been
edited for style and length.
POWER: Countries such as Germany
and Switzerland are phasing nuclear
power out of their energy mixes, yet the
38
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POWER | January 2016
UAE is pushing forward with the energy
source. Why is nuclear power attractive
to you?
Mohamed Al Hammadi: Every country
has a unique set of requirements and
characteristics that determine its energy
portfolio. Energy policymakers use these
requirements to compose the most appropriate
energy portfolio to provide safe,
reliable, and commercially competitive
electricity to power their growth. In the
UAE, the government has made a decisive
commitment to provide a more sustainable
and long-term-oriented electricity
sector that can preserve its natural energy
resources and provide higher quotas of energy
security and energy diversification.
In order to select the best energy technologies
to power growth, in 2007 the
UAE conducted an extensive study into
the country's growing energy demand and
electricity generation capacity. The study
found that existing and planned electricity
supply would not meet future demand,
and that by 2020, peak energy demand will
grow to more than 40,000 MW-a rate of
9% per year, which is three times the global
average. In 2008, the year before we announced
our peaceful nuclear energy program,
the UAE's electrical load was 15.5
GW, supplied almost exclusively by natural
gas (98%). After reviewing multiple energy
technologies, it was concluded that nuclear
energy was the right choice for the UAE be1.
Nuclear oasis. The first unit at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates
is expected to begin operation in 2017. Courtesy: Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp.

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POWER January 2016

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