Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Hatta will begin supplying clean energy to Dubai by April 2025, according to DEWA’s MD & CEO, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer. The AED 1.421 billion project, now 96.82 percent complete, commenced operational testing in January 2025.
Supporting the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050, the plant contributes to the goal of generating 100 percent of Dubai’s power from clean sources by 2050.
As the first hydroelectric plant of its kind in the GCC, it will use water from the Hatta Dam and a newly built upper dam. The upper dam features a 72-metre-high main wall and a 37-metre-high side dam, filled for trial operations in early 2025.
The plant operates at 78.9 percent efficiency, channelling water through a 1.2-kilometre underground tunnel to drive turbines, supplying electricity to DEWA’s grid within 90 seconds. It will use clean power from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to pump water back to the upper dam, converting electrical energy into stored kinetic energy.
This project is part of DEWA’s strategy to diversify energy production through solar photovoltaic panels, concentrated solar power, and green hydrogen.
