The recent projects to develop Egypt’s electricity grid have cost the government 483 billion pounds, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker said on Wednesday during a ceremony marking the official launch of the first phase of the country’s new administrative capital.
Shaker said the figure does not include the cost of a nuclear power plant Egypt is preparing to build in Dabaa, in the north of the country.
Egypt has been heavily investing in its electric power infrastrusture in the past three years to overcome acute shortages.
In June 2015, the Egyptian government signed an 8 billion-euro deal with Germany’s Siemens to construct three natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants, including one in the new capital, with a capacity of 4,800 megawatts each to boost the country’s electricity generation by 50 percent.
Siemens began work on the project in 2016.
The main power station in the new capital is 92 percent complete, Shaker said in comments broadcast live on state TV.
He added that the high-tech 4,800 megawatt station will be fuel efficient.
The new capital, around 40km to the east of Cairo, will be home to government ministries, residential units and an international airport. In its first phase, the mega project is expected to draw a population of 7 million. The city is expected to be completed in 2020.
Source: Ahram online
