The Hatta Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant project is located near the community of Hatta in the Hajar Mountains, 140 km southeast of Dubai.

The plant will use water stored in an upper reservoir at the Hatta Dam, utilizing pumped storage technology with solar-powered pumps from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The project was awarded to a consortium that includes STRABAG Dubai LLC, STRABAG AG, Austria’s Andritz Hydro, and Ozkar, an Oman-based construction company. France’s EDF is acting as a consultant for the project.

It will comprise a turbine shaft with a diameter of approximately 36 meters and a depth of nearly 70 meters, designed to accommodate two turbines with a total expected power output of 250 MW. Additionally, a 1.2 km-long pressure tunnel and two road tunnels, approximately 470 meters and 440 meters in length, will be excavated.

Dextra was involved in the excavation of the hydro tunnels by supplying thousands of GEOTEC™ steel bolts, including Self-Drilling Rock Bolts, soil nails, and combination bolts, ranging in diameter from 22 to 32 mm, for rock mass and slope stabilization.

Dextra’s GEOTEC™ steel bolt systems are available for various ground conditions in applications such as roadways, hydropower, underground oil and gas storage, subsea, and sewer tunnels.

The project is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2024.

It is part of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to provide 75% of Dubai’s total power generation from clean energy sources by 2050.