Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that work is moving at a steady pace on its 250 MW Hatta hydroelectric power plant, with 35 per cent of the project already completed.

On completion, the plant will have a production capacity of 250 MW with a storage capacity of 1,500 megawatt-hours and a lifespan of up to 80 years. This is the first of its kind in the Gulf region, with investments of around AED1.42 billion ($386 million), said Dewa.

Turbines operated by the speed of the waterfall from an upper reservoir through a 1,200-m water tunnel will be used to generate electricity, with high efficiency in power generation and storage of up to 78.9 per cent and with a 90-second response demand for electricity, it stated.

Giving a project update, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO, said Dewa had also completed the 1,200-m high-pressure water tunnel for the project. The first 37-m-high roller compacted concrete (RCC) wall is also complete at the project’s upper dam, he stated.

Al Tayer said the pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta was part of Dewa’s efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development in Dubai, and increase the share of clean and renewable energy in Dubai’s energy mix.