DUBAI, UAE – The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) under-construction pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant site in Hatta is 58.48 percent complete.
This is the first station of its kind in the GCC, with investments of up to US$387 million (AED 1.421 billion).
The project is planned for completion in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The power plant will have a production capacity of 250 megawatts (MW), a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours and a life span of up to 80 years.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA has visited the power plant to check the progress of the work.
During the visit, Al Tayer was accompanied by Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation; Mansoor Al Suwaidi, Vice President – Projects and Engineering (Generation); and Khalifa Al Badwawi, Project Manager, along with the project team.
DEWA CEO inspected the construction site at the hydroelectric power plant, where he was briefed about the work progress.
The visit also included the inspection of the power generators site and the upper dam, where the water intake in the Hatta Dam connected to the power generators has been completed.
Construction of the 72-meter main Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) wall of the upper dam has been completed.
Al Tayer also inspected the work progress of the water tunnel, which is 1.2 kilometers long and connects the two dams.
The concrete lining of the water tunnel is complete.
He said that the power plant is part of DEWA’s efforts to achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100 percent of Dubai’s total power production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
The project supports the comprehensive plan to develop Hatta and meet its social, economic, developmental and environmental needs, in addition to providing innovative job opportunities for citizens in the area.
Al Tayer said that the hydroelectric power plant in Hatta is part of the projects and initiatives launched by DEWA to diversify energy production from renewable and clean sources in Dubai.
These include different technologies such as solar photovoltaic panels, concentrated solar power and green hydrogen production using renewable energy.
The hydroelectric power plant will be an energy storage facility with a turnaround efficiency of 78.9 percent that utilizes the water stored in the upper dam, which is converted to kinetic energy during the flow of water through the 1.2-kilometer subterranean tunnel.
This kinetic energy rotates the turbines and converts mechanical energy to electrical energy which is sent to DEWA’s grid within 90 seconds in response to demand.
To store energy, clean energy generated at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will be used to pump the water through this tunnel back to the upper dam by converting the electrical power to kinetic energy making the whole project 100 percent renewable.
