The Decision
In 2008, Abu Dhabi made a decision that no other Arab state had made: to build a civilian nuclear power programme. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) was established to develop, own, and operate what would become the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant — four APR-1400 pressurised water reactors located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, on the Gulf coast approximately 280 kilometres west of the capital.
The decision was strategic, not merely technical. Abu Dhabi is the world’s sixth-largest holder of proven oil reserves and a major gas producer. The emirate does not lack energy. What it lacks — or rather, what its leadership recognised it would lack — is a sustainable, low-carbon, baseload power source that could meet growing domestic electricity demand without burning hydrocarbons that could otherwise be exported for revenue.
The arithmetic was straightforward. Every gas molecule burned to generate electricity in Abu Dhabi is a gas molecule not available for export or industrial feedstock. As the emirate’s economy grew — population increasing, industrial activity expanding, air conditioning demand rising in a desert climate where summer temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius — the domestic energy consumption curve was on a trajectory to consume an ever-larger share of hydrocarbon production. Nuclear power offered a way to break that link: baseload electricity generation that consumes no hydrocarbons and produces no carbon emissions during operation.
The South Korean Partnership
In 2009, a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) won the contract to build Barakah, beating bids from Areva (France) and GE-Hitachi (United States). The KEPCO consortium’s bid, estimated at approximately $20 billion, was significantly lower than the French alternative, and the South Korean track record of on-time, on-budget nuclear construction was a decisive factor.
The partnership went beyond construction. KEPCO and its subsidiaries — including Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) — provided reactor design (the APR-1400, developed from Westinghouse technology), construction management, operator training, and long-term technical support. The APR-1400 design had already been deployed in South Korea, providing a reference plant that reduced technical risk.
The decision to partner with South Korea rather than France, the United States, Russia, or China was itself significant. It demonstrated Abu Dhabi’s willingness to select partners based on commercial and technical merit rather than geopolitical alignment alone, and it established a UAE-South Korean relationship in nuclear energy that has become a model for international nuclear cooperation.
Construction and Commissioning
Construction of Barakah Unit 1 began in 2012. The project was the largest nuclear construction programme in the world at the time and the first new nuclear build in the Arab world.
The construction timeline experienced delays — not unusual for nuclear projects, which face regulatory hurdles, safety requirements, and the inherent complexity of building structures designed to contain nuclear reactions for sixty years. Unit 1 was originally scheduled for completion in 2017 but achieved commercial operation in April 2021. Unit 2 followed in March 2022. Unit 3 reached commercial operation in October 2023. Unit 4, the final reactor, achieved criticality in 2024 and has been progressing toward full commercial operation.
With all four units operational, Barakah has a combined generating capacity of approximately 5.6 gigawatts — enough to supply approximately 25 percent of Abu Dhabi’s electricity demand. This makes Barakah one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world by total capacity and the single largest source of clean electricity in the Arab world.
Operations
Nawah Energy Company, a joint venture between ENEC and KEPCO, operates the Barakah plant. The operating model reflects Abu Dhabi’s characteristic approach to institutional development: partner with a world-class international operator, build local capability through knowledge transfer, and progressively increase the Emirati share of the operational workforce.
The safety record has been closely watched, given the geopolitical sensitivity of nuclear power in the Middle East and the proximity of the plant to the Gulf’s maritime shipping lanes. ENEC and Nawah have maintained an approach that emphasises transparency with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and compliance with the highest international safety standards. Abu Dhabi signed the 123 Agreement with the United States — committing not to enrich uranium domestically or reprocess spent fuel — which provides non-proliferation assurances that have facilitated international support for the programme.
The fuel for Barakah is sourced internationally, consistent with Abu Dhabi’s commitment under the 123 Agreement. Enriched uranium fuel assemblies are manufactured by international suppliers and delivered to the plant under IAEA safeguards. This fuel supply chain is a dependency — Abu Dhabi does not control its own nuclear fuel cycle — but it is also a feature, demonstrating the emirate’s commitment to the non-proliferation framework that underpins international acceptance of the programme.
Energy Security Implications
Barakah’s contribution to Abu Dhabi’s energy security is substantial and underappreciated.
Nuclear power provides baseload electricity — consistent, around-the-clock generation that does not depend on weather (unlike solar), fuel price fluctuations (unlike gas-fired generation), or external supply chains for daily fuel deliveries (unlike LNG). A nuclear plant, once fuelled, operates continuously for approximately 18 to 24 months before requiring a refuelling outage. This operational profile makes nuclear uniquely suited to provide the reliable base of the electricity system on which variable renewable sources can then be layered.
For Abu Dhabi, the energy security calculus extends beyond electricity. Every kilowatt-hour generated by Barakah displaces gas-fired generation, freeing natural gas for export, industrial feedstock, or strategic reserve. At Abu Dhabi’s electricity consumption levels and the gas intensity of the power sector, Barakah’s 5.6 GW of nuclear capacity displaces a meaningful volume of natural gas annually — gas that ADNOC can sell on international markets or that can be allocated to the petrochemical and industrial sectors.
Carbon Reduction
Barakah’s contribution to carbon reduction is direct and measurable. Nuclear power generation produces no direct carbon emissions. At full operation, the four Barakah units are estimated to avoid approximately 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year compared to equivalent gas-fired generation. This makes Barakah the single largest carbon abatement measure in the UAE.
For a nation that hosted COP28 and whose president has made climate leadership a pillar of foreign policy, the carbon credentials of Barakah are strategically important. Nuclear power provides Abu Dhabi with a credible response to critics who question the Gulf’s commitment to energy transition: the emirate is not merely investing in renewable energy (through Masdar) but has committed $20 billion to a zero-carbon baseload power source.
The combination of Barakah (nuclear), Masdar’s growing renewable portfolio (solar and wind), and ADNOC’s carbon capture programme positions Abu Dhabi with a more diversified low-carbon energy strategy than most oil-producing states — and, arguably, than many developed economies.
What It Means
Barakah is more than a power plant. It is a statement about the seriousness of Abu Dhabi’s long-term energy planning.
Building a nuclear programme from scratch — in a country with no prior nuclear industry, in a region where nuclear power is geopolitically sensitive, at a cost exceeding $20 billion — required a level of institutional commitment and long-term thinking that few governments demonstrate. The decision was made in 2008. The first electricity was generated in 2020. Full commercial operation of all four units is being achieved in 2025-2026. The programme will generate electricity for at least sixty years.
This time horizon — from initial decision to end of operational life — spans nearly a century. It is the longest-duration infrastructure commitment Abu Dhabi has made, exceeding even the intergenerational mandate of ADIA. And it demonstrates something about Abu Dhabi’s governing philosophy that is often overlooked in analyses focused on sovereign wealth and oil production: the emirate’s leadership is willing to make decisions today whose full returns will not materialise for generations.
Barakah is the physical embodiment of that philosophy, producing clean electricity around the clock in the western desert of Abu Dhabi while the rest of the Gulf debates whether to follow its example.