Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) | DEWA’s hydroelectric power plant in Hatta is 74% complete

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), has visited the pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant site DEWA is building in Hatta to check the progress of ongoing work. The power plant, with a planned production capacity of 250 megawatts (MW), a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours, and a life span of up to 80 years, is 74% complete. This is the first station of its kind in the GCC region, with investments of up to AED 1.421 billion. The project is planned for completion in Q1 of 2025.

The pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta is part of DEWA’s efforts to achieve the vision and directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It supports the comprehensive development plan for Hatta, launched by His Highness, to meet the social, developmental, economic, and environmental needs as well as provide innovative job opportunities for Emiratis in Hatta.

Al Tayer toured the construction site at the hydroelectric power plant, where he was briefed about the work progress. The visit included the inspection of the power generators’ installation, presently witnessing the assembly of generators and the ongoing construction of service and operational facilities. Furthermore, the visit encompassed an examination of the upper dam, where the water upper intake structure and the associated bridge, has been successfully completed. Construction of the 72-metre main Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) wall of the upper dam has been completed, and preliminary measures to commence filling the upper dam by end of the year. Additionally, Al Tayer evaluated the ongoing advancements in the 1.2-kilometer-long water tunnel, presently in the process of being linked to the power generators.

The Hydroelectric power plant is an energy storage with turnaround efficiency of 78.9% that utilize potential energy of 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 and this kinetic energy rotates the turbine 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 to the upper dam by converting the electrical energy to kinetic energy and then finally storing it as a potential energy in the upper dam which is 150meters above Hatta Dam. This makes the whole project 100% renewable.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, said that the Hatta pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant supports the comprehensive plan to develop Hatta and meet its social, economic, developmental, and environmental needs, in addition to providing job opportunities for Emirati citizens in Hatta. The project 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% of Dubai’s total power production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050. DEWA has launched different projects and initiatives to diversify energy production from renewable and clean sources including solar photovoltaic panels, concentrated solar power, and green hydrogen production using renewable energy.