Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is in discussions with Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) for the purchase of baseload power capacity from its nuclear power project once it enters operation.

“There are some discussions … it is difficult to say how much [power would be imported from Abu Dhabi. Maybe] 10-25 per cent will come [from the nuclear power plant to Dubai] through the grid,” says Saeed Mohammad al-Tayer, managing director and chief executive officer of Dewa.

The potential for importing power from the nuclear power plant, which is currently under construction, has been taken into consideration by Dewa’s plans for future capacity building.

“This would be baseload,” says Al-Tayer. If Dubai imports power from the nuclear projects, “we would need peaking [capacity]”, says Al-Tayer. “But we still need to decide on the quantity of power to import – and the price.”

Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) is developing the 5,600MW nuclear power plant comprising four reactors. A South Korean consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) was selected to build the plant in 2009.