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DEWA’s $ 387mn dollar Hatta hydroelectric power plant 44% complete | |
| Staff Writer |
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has completed 44% of its pumped-storage hydroelectric power station, currently under construction in Hatta, with a production capacity of 250MW, a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours, and a life span of up to 80 years. The project is considered the first station of its kind in the GCC with investments of up to $386.9mn (AED1.4bn).
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The pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta is part of DEWA’s efforts to support the Hatta Development Plan launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The plan currently entails a few essentials like the establishment of a 5.4km-long cable car route and the Dubai Mountain Peak at an altitude of 1,300 metres (the summit of Jebel Umm Al Nisour), as well as Hatta Sustainable Waterfalls that will contribute to the overall development in the Hatta region and provide job opportunities for citizens in the city.
DEWA’s projects will collectively provide nearly 200 technical, administrative, and operational jobs in Hatta alongwith 300 jobs associated withj outdoor activities and tourist facilities associated with the project.
Work is currently underway on the 70-metre main dam wall.Once complete the station will use water in the Hatta Dam and an upper dam being built in the mountain.During the visit to the dam, Al Tayer also reviewed the work progress of the 1.2km subterranean tunnel, which connects the two dams.
The hydroelectric power plant is an energy storage that converts potential energy of the water stored in the upper dam which is converted to kinetic energy during the flow of water through the 1.2km subterranean tunnel and this kinetic energy rotates the turbines and converts mechanical energy to electrical energy which is sent to DEWA grid.Then to store energy again, clean energy generated at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is used to pump the water through this tunnel back from the Hatta dam to the upper dam by converting the electrical energy to kinetic energy and then finally storing it as potential energy in the upper dam. The power plant will have a turnaround efficiency of 78.9% and a response to demand for energy within 90 seconds.
This includes all available technologies such as photovoltaic solar panels, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), and green hydrogen production using renewable energy.
Construction consultancy AESG has been providing environmental consultancy and fire engineering services on the project.