Barakah nuclear power plant — United Arab Emirates

Barakah nuclear power plant is a 5,668 MW nuclear power station in Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is operated by Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 13 million homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 60 United Arab Emirates power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2021, it is around 5 years old — recently built. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 22.9% of United Arab Emirates's electricity; the national grid averages 468 gCO₂/kWh (31.7% low-carbon) (2024).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_barakah_unite.

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: GEM Global Nuclear Power Tracker September 2025 unit-status sum (operating); fuel: GEM GNPT

In context: how this plant compares

Technically it is described as pressurized water reactor. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Owner

Operated by Emirates Nuclear Energy Corp [100%].

Climate zone & how it works

This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 24.0°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

United Arab Emirates has 1 nuclear power plant in this dataset, together about 5,668 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Shuweihat S1 · Gas · 4,889 MW · Abu Dhabi
• Ruwais General Utilities Plant · Gas · 692.8 MW · Emirate of Abu Dhabi
• Ruwais LNG Facilities power station · Gas · 75 MW · Emirate of Abu Dhabi
• BU HASA GASCO · Gas · 138.1 MW · Emirate of Abu Dhabi
• New Mirfah (MIPCO) · Gas · 1,728 MW · Emirate of Abu Dhabi
• Al Mirfa Power Company · Gas · 551 MW · Abu Dhabi

Location

Coordinates 23.9695, 52.2361 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions