The Egyptian Electricity Holding Co. has begun to evaluate the technical and financial offers to select a building consultant for a water pumping and storage station in Ataka in collaboration with the Armed Forces, which oversees the project.
A source from the Ministry of Electricity said that they started the evaluation of technical offers presented by six foreign and local companies to take over the building consultancy of the new water station under the supervision of the Armed Forces.
He added that the chosen consultant will evaluate the technical and financial feasibility studies of the project and will cooperate with the ministry in its negotiations with the Chinese company Sinohydro over the implementation period of the project. It will also negotiate over the price of KW, the loan, the grace period, the annual installment and interest on the project.
Mohamed Osama, head of the Hydro Power Plants Executive Authority (HPPEA), said previously that the Armed Forces will supervise the selection of the project’s consultant, but he did not speak about the companies applying for the tender.
HPPEA has been negotiating with German, Chinese, and Canadian firms to conduct economic and technical feasibility studies of the project, but Osama refused to talk about the project’s consultant.
Osama said that the Cabinet approved the project and has allocated the required land for building the project as well as the license of the activity. The authority also received the security and environmental approvals.
The government signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinohydro during the Egypt Economic Development Conference held in March 2014 in Sharm El-Sheikh to build a power plant in Ataka with a capacity of 2,100 MW.
Osama added that the water pumping and storage technology is the best method for storing electricity in the world. The new technology will decrease the costs of operating networks and provide more security and stability to the electricity grid.
