(CNN)The United Arab Emirates has launched a nuclear energy plant on Saturday, the first such project in the oil-rich Arab world. Unit 1 of the Barakah plant in the Al Dhafrah region of Abu Dhabi started producing heat on Saturday, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation said in a statement. Unit 1 is the first of the plant's four nuclear reactors to launch. The corporation said the construction of Unit 2 has finished recently, while the other two reactors are still being built -- even though the original schedule called for the plant to become operational by 2017. Once completed, the four reactors, which are using South Korean technology, should produce 5.6 gigawatts of electricity and supply up to 25% of the UAE's electricity needs, the corporation said.