Electricity Ministry to sign three agreements worth $6bn during Chinese president’s visit to Cairo

Last updated: January 18, 2016 9:53 pm

2 Min Read

A picture taken 20 April 2006 shows high voltage electric lines of the French power company RTE, in Blandy-Les-Tours, south of Paris. A surge in electricity demand in Germany due to cold weather triggered blackouts across western Europe on 05 November 2006, leaving about 10 percent of French consumers without power, electricity operators said. "We weren't very far from a European blackout," Pierre Bornard, a member of the board of directors of the French power company RTE. Parts of Italy and Spain also experienced power outages.

The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy plans to sign initial agreements with three Chinese companies for production of electricity. The agreements are worth about $6bn and will be signed during the Chinese president’s visit to Egypt.

A high-ranking official at the Ministry of Electricity said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will arrange and coordinate the Chinese president’s visit to Egypt. He said the Ministry of Electricity has not sent the list of the proposed electricity projects, awaiting coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of Electricity will sign preliminary contracts with Shanghai Electric, Dongfang Electric Corporation, and Sinohydro Power Constructions Cooperation. The agreements provide establishing two power plants fuelled by coal with a capacity of 1,980MW each and a total of 3,960MW. Another agreement will establish a water pumping and storage plant that will produce 2,000MW.

The source said contracts will be preliminary and are not final. There will be financing and technical requirements that must be met before setting the price per kilowatt and the total cost of projects.

Ministry of Electricity’s media adviser Mohamed Al-Yamani said the projects under negotiation will contribute to adding new capabilities to the national power grid to meet the requirements of the economic growth rates and the increasing demand for energy, which helps implement the policy adopted by the Ministry of Electricity to diversify energy sources and make electricity available for all purposes.

In a phone interview with Daily News Egypt, Director of Shanghai Electric in Egypt Chein Chen said his company will officially sign an agreement to establish a power plant fuelled by coal in the Hamrawein area on the Red Sea coast on 21 January.

Chen said the Shanghai Electric will establish the project through EPC and Finance, where Shanghai Electric will manage engineering, procurement, and construction work and secure the necessary funding. The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company will pay for the project over several years with allowance for a facilitated payment.