Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced that the 250MW Hatta pumped storage project being built in Hatta is 29% complete.
The first 37m-high Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) wall is now complete at the project’s upper dam. The station – the first of its kind in the region – will use water in the Hatta Dam and an upper dam that is being built in the mountain. It will have a storage capacity of 1500MWh, and a life span of up to 80 years.
“The pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta helps achieve the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to comprehensively expand sustainable development in Dubai,” explained HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. “We have a clear strategy and specific objectives to increase the use of clean and renewable energy in Dubai’s energy mix. This will achieve the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.”
Al Tayer also said that the hydroelectric power plant in Hatta supports DEWA’s efforts to diversify its energy mix. This diversification includes photovoltaic solar panels, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), green hydrogen production using renewable energy, and studies on wind power generation in Hatta. The hydroelectric power plant is one of DEWA’s projects to provide innovative job opportunities for the people of Hatta, and the area’s development to meet its social, economic, and environmental needs.
Al Tayer confirmed that the construction of the hydroelectric power plant uses the latest and safest drilling technologies suited to Hatta’s geological features and adheres to the strictest international environmental standards to protect the Hatta Natural Reserve. The service tunnelling operations are complete. Each tunnel is 500m long. More than 95% of the excavation operations of the 1.2km subterranean water canal have been completed.
Al Tayer explained that the 60m-deep excavation for the area where the generators will be installed is complete. Now, the work to pour concrete has begun, and pouring of the RCC for the first part of the 37m-high upper dam wall is now complete. The project has completed 4.6 million safe working hours so far without any injuries.
Nasser Lootah, Executive Vice President of Generation at DEWA; Khalifa Albedwawi, the project manager, and the project’s team accompanied HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA on a site visit.
