The first consignment of locally-produced non-class 1E cable has been delivered to the UAE’s nuclear plants under construction in Barakah, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) announced. 

The cables were manufactured and supplied by the Dubai Cable Company Ltd (Ducab) and will be used for non-class 1E power and lighting in the four units at the Barakah nuclear site. The cables are of the highest quality and have successfully passed the 60-year operating life qualification test. Enec’s Equipment Qualification (EQ) team witnessed the final part of the eight-month long-term test, conducted in Kinectrics Inc in Toronto, Canada, on 8 January 2014, to confirm that the different cable types meet Enec’s stringent operational and safety requirements.

The first shipment contains 324,000 ft of non-class 1E cables out of the total 16 million ft on order. These cables will be used for Unit 1 at Barakah, the site of the UAE’s first nuclear energy plants, where construction work is underway.

Senior officials from Ducab visited the Barakah site on this occasion and was welcomed by Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO at Enec. The Ducab delegation was headed by Jamal Al Dhaheri, chairman of Ducab.

“The delivery of the first consignment of Ducab cables is an important milestone in the development of our country’s first nuclear power plant and supports the UAE’s goal for economic diversification,” said Al Hammadi. “Nuclear energy will provide a safe, clean, reliable and efficient source of electricity that will help power the UAE’s rapid economic growth. We at Enec are pleased to partner with Ducab, a UAE company that matches global standards as well as Enec’s expectation for 60-year operating life cables meeting the highest quality and safety standards.”

“With its world-class nuclear energy project, Enec has played a pivotal role in the UAE’s industrial development program,” said Hassan Omar, general manager – technical and quality, Ducab. “Our dedicated team has been working diligently since 2011 to develop this range of premium and extended long-life cables made to American and NQA Standards. We are extremely grateful to Enec for granting Ducab the opportunity to prove and elevate our capabilities.”

Ducab is equally owned by the governments of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. With three cable manufacturing site facilities across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, Ducab has a manufacturing capability of over 110,000 tonnes of high, medium and low voltage cables and wires per annum. The company was also the preferred cable supplier for landmark UAE projects such as the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi Airport, Burj Khalifa, the Dubai Metro and Palm Jumeriah.

Meanwhile, Emirates Aluminium (Emal) has signed a deal to supply molten aluminium to Ducab Aluminium’s new rod mill that is currently under construction.

Ducab Aluminium is a joint venture between Ducab and Senaat, a leading industrial investment and holding company in the UAE. The plant is being built at the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).