DUBAI - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced that the work progress of the pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant being built by DEWA in Hatta, has reached 52.61 percent.

DEWA also announced the completion of the construction of the 72-metre main Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) wall of the upper dam.

DEWA has also completed the construction of the 37-metre-high RCC side wall at the project’s upper dam.

The hydroelectric power plant will use the stored water in Hatta Dam, and the upper dam that is built in the mountain to produce electricity.

The 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. This is the first station of its kind in the GCC, with investments up to AED1.421 billion.

The project is planned for completion by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said that the pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta is part of DEWA’s efforts to achieve the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, 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 job opportunities for citizens in Hatta.

Al Tayer noted 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 utilises the water stored in the upper dam, which is converted to kinetic energy during the flow of water through the 1.2-kilometre 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.