The Emirates Nuclear Energy Company (ENEC) has sealed an agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) at the World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi.
The World Utilities Congress, scheduled to run until 29 May 2025, serves as the global platform focused on driving the transformation of utilities sector. The event gathered industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators, to highlight latest technologies, forge strategic partnerships and explore investment prospects.
The partnership between ENEC and GE Vernova Hitachi aims to evaluate the deployment of the BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology internationally. His Excellency Mohamed Al Hammadi, Managing Director and CEO of ENEC and Maví Zingoni, CEO of GE Vernova’s Power segment, exchanged signed agreements.
The agreement highlights both parties commitment to exploring opportunities for international deployment by collaborating on a development roadmap to include site identification, licensing pathways, investment and commercialization strategies and supply chain development.
H.E Mohamed Al Hammadi Managing Director and CEO – ENEC
“As we continue to power the UAE with clean, baseload electricity around the clock, we are glad to move to the next level of cooperation with GE Vernova Hitachi to accelerate the deployment of new advanced nuclear reactor technologies in the UAE and internationally. This agreement will bring together our complementary expertise to identify a clear roadmap for deployment, which is essential to ensure safe, efficient and quality-led nuclear delivery, as we have experienced here in the UAE. As global power demand continues to grow at pace, we look forward to advancing new solutions to meet this growth in a sustainable manner.”
Maví Zingoni, CEO of GE Vernova’s Power Businesses, stated that, “Small modular reactors have an essential role to play in an energy secure future, and we are pleased to advance our collaboration with ENEC as the UAE seeks to be an early mover for nuclear innovation. With construction of the first BWRX-300 moving forward in Canada, collaborating with ENEC further strengthens our ties with the UAE and ability to deliver this technology and achieve a more sustainable energy future.”
Nuclear energy is a key solution to address the current unprecedented demand for reliable, dispatchable, more sustainable power coming from a wide range of customers, including hyperscalers seeking to power data centers to support growth in the AI and technology sectors.
As developer and operator of the four-unit Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant in Abu Dhabi, ENEC brings significant expertise following the successful deployment of civil nuclear energy to power the UAE’s grid, adhering to international safety and quality standards.
As a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) Atlanta Center, ENEC operates in alignment with US standards and regulatory environment, combined with unique expertise in deployment, financing and integration.
GE Vernova’s Nuclear Power business, through its global alliance with Hitachi, is a leading provider of nuclear fuel bundles, services, and advanced nuclear reactor designs. Technologies include boiling water reactors and small modular reactors, such as the BWRX-300.
The Province of Ontario and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) approved the deployment of the first BWRX-300 at the Darlington nuclear site in Ontario on May 8. This marks the BWRX-300 as the first SMR to be built in the Western world.
As part of this collaboration, teams from both ENEC and GE Vernova Hitachi will work together to evaluate and develop a comprehensive roadmap for deployment of the BWRX-300. This comes as part of ENEC’s ADVANCE Program, which seeks to accelerate the evaluation and potential deployment of next-gen nuclear technologies.
In addition to the Barakah plant, ENEC is exploring investment, collaboration and deployment opportunities both in the UAE and overseas to support the rapid delivery of civil nuclear energy to drive energy security and sustainability through the provision of clean baseload electricity.
