Siemens is set to begin the commercial operation of five units in the Borollos, Beni Suef, and New Administrative Capital power plants with a capacity of 2,000MW by next week.
Ibrahim Al-Shahat, head of Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company, said that the company will start the commercial operation of three units at the Beni Suef power plant with a capacity of 400MW each by next week.
He added that Siemens has started the commercial operation of a production unit with a 400MW capacity at the Beni Suef power plant on Saturday, in cooperation with the engineers of the Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company.
He further added that all capacities will be added to the electricity grid after its commercial operation, and the National Energy Control Center will decide whether to use all, half, or part of the electricity.
An official source at the Ministry of Electricity said that the commercial operation of five electricity production units will be started at Siemens’ three power plants in Beni Suef, Borollos, and the New Administrative Capital, with a total capacity of 2,000MW, including three units in Beni Suef with a capacity of 120 MW, and 800MW from the New Administrative Capital and Borollos power plants.
He added that all the invoices, submitted by Siemens for the officials of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), have been approved, asserting that they will not delay the payment of their dues, so that the company can complete the work in the three power plants according to the time table.
The EEHC had signed contracts with Siemens last year to implement the three combined-cycle power plants with a total capacity of 14,400MW.
Siemens is implementing the three projects through the EBC+Finance scheme, while the EEHC will repay the loan over several years.
Three German banks, KfW Development Bank, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank secured funding for Siemens’ projects in Egypt, amounting to €4.1bn of a total contract value of €6bn. Arab banks secured the remaining funding in Egyptian pounds to pay for the Egyptian companies participating in constructions, including Elsewedy Electric and Orascom.
