The UAE Nawah Energy Company, the operations and maintenance subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), on 23 March confirmed that it had completed loading the fuel assemblies into the unit 2 reactor of Barakah NPP and would begin a series of tests, before beginning the start-up sequence process known as power ascension testing, after which the unit would be synchronised to the grid.
The process was assisted by the Korea Electric Power Company (Kepco), which led the consortium that us building the plant. In 2009, the Kepco-led consortium won a $20 billion contract to build four APR1400 reactors at Barakah. Construction of unit 1 began in July 2012, unit 2 in May 2013, unit 3 in September 2014 and unit 4 in September 2015. Unit 3 is now 94% complete, unit 4 is 87% complete and the NPP overall is more than 95% complete. Unit 1 was completed in 2018 and expects to begin commercial operation this year. With all four units operating, the NPP will supply up to 25% of the UAE's electricity.
