EDF, a world-leading nuclear operator, and the UAE's Nawah Energy Company have signed an operations and maintenance assistance agreement for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi.

 

Nawah is the subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) that is mandated to operate and maintain the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, the first nuclear energy plant in the Arab World.

 

With more than 50 years of nuclear experience and acclaimed expertise in supporting newcomer countries, EDF will provide Nawah with services in a number of areas including operational safety, radiation protection, fuel-cycle management and environmental monitoring. 

 

The EDF Group will provide expertise in the form of engineering studies, on-site support, training and benchmarking sessions, etc. These services may involve the entire EDF Group including Framatome, as well as some of EDF’s legacy partners.

 

Through the supply of targeted services, the agreement will be mutually beneficial to both companies whilst continuing to strengthen their partnership ties. Both entities strongly believe that this 10-year commitment, based on a shared vision and on common values and goals, will contribute to the quality and safety led operations of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, which is currently preparing for operations of the first of its four 1400 MW units. 

 

With safety as its overriding priority, the EDF Group will share the benefits of its continuous improvement programme, the foundation stone of its safety culture, whilst supporting Nawah to achieve even higher levels of performance, a statement said.

 

The agreement illustrates the strengthening of the Franco-Emirati partnership within the energy sector. 

 

Dominique Minière, EDF’s senior executive vice president in charge on nuclear and thermal fleet, said: “We are proud that Nawah has recognised  EDF Group’s expertise, the world’s leading nuclear operator, by choosing us to provide it with services for the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. With this agreement, EDF will be strengthening its position in the UAE’s low-carbon energy sector, thereby reasserting the goal of its CAP 2030 strategy which is to triple its business volumes outside of Europe by 2030.”

 

Nawah chief executive officer Mark Reddemann said: “Nawah is delighted about this partnership and we are looking forward not only to bringing on board the expertise of EDF but more importantly we look forward to working closely with the team to ensure safe and secure start-up of Unit 1 at Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. EDF has a phenomenal track record of achievements in the global nuclear industry that we are bringing to Barakah.” - TradeArabia News Service