General Electric (GE) has asked the Ministry of Electricity to pay part of its $148m dues, owed for maintenance work carried out at production plants.
Sources from the electricity company said that it is in charge of maintenance work and the modernisation of a number of electricity production units, but did not receive its dues as a result of liquidity shortage at the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC).
The sources pointed out that the company did not delay the implementation of maintenance, but recently reported to EEHC officials its intention to collect the value of the spare parts required for the units or delay the work until the EEHC secures the necessary funds.
The source noted that GE have been working for a long time with the Ministry of Electricity, which legitimises its requests to enable the company to complete its work and fulfill its obligations.
The sources said that the Ministry of Electricity entered into a long-term contract with GE for maintenance of power plant production units. The company has implemented overhauls for some units depending on the state of them and their turbines.
Overhauls are considered simple if operations do not exceed 8,000 hours, while they take 24,000 hours when normal, and 36,000 hours in extreme cases.
The sources said that a technical fault occurred in two electricity production units in Nubaria and Koraymat, which GE manages the maintenance of. The company confirmed the fault and stressed it will be repaired without additional burdens on the EEHC.
The ministry has set a plan to carry out the replacement and maintenance of power plants to save fuel and raise efficiency, instead of building new plants that would require additional funds.
