Pyramid power: Egypt country profile

Egypt?s installed power capacity stood at 17,000MW as of 2005 of which 84% is based on natural gas and the remainder split between HEP and thermal pow
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Egypt is moving forwards with several infrastructure projects. Utilities Middle East reports on the country’s progress.

Egypt’s infrastructure has undergone significant improvement over recent years. Buoyed by significant foreign aid and a number of fiscal stimulus packages, the country is driving ahead with a range of infrastructure projects to modernise its road, rail, power and water networks.

Demand for energy has risen as a result of demographic and economic growth. Its reliance on hydro-electric power (HEP), which used to provide 25% of the country’s electricity was throw into exposure during the water crisis in 1988, that followed eight years of drought in the catchment areas of the River Nile.

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The government embarked on a programme to construct power stations that would depend mainly on locally-produced natural gas. Egypt’s first build-own-operate-transfer power plant at Sidi Kreir began operation in 2002, followed by two 680-mw BOOT plants at Ain Sukna and East Port Said.

In 2005 the country’s installed capacity stood at 17,000 mw, of which 84% is based on natural gas and the remaining split between HEP and thermal power.

Away from traditional methods of power generation, in 1997 an Argentinian-built $100 million, 22MW research nuclear reactor became operational, replacing the 2 mw facility constructed by the Soviet Union in 1961. Egypt also generates approximately 150MW of wind power through its site at Zafraana on the Gulf of Suez.

In June 2009, Australia-based engineering consultants Worley Parsons announced contracts to oversee projects towards Egypt’s first nuclear power plant.

In December 2008, Egypt’s Energy and Electricity Ministry announced that following an international tender, it had decided to award a $180 million contract to Bechtel to choose the reactor technology, choose the site for the plant, organise training and provide technical services over some ten years. However, the government has now transferred this contract to Worley Parsons.

Worley Parsons expects the contract to be worth $160 million over eight years. The initial phase of the contract involves site and technology selection studies and work relating to the plant’s design, construction management, commissioning and start-up.

In 2006, Egypt announced plans to build a 1000 MWe reactor for electricity generation and water desalination at El-Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast by 2015, in a project valued at between $1.5 - $2 billion, which would be open to foreign participation.

Such progressive steps do not come cheap. Fortunately, Egypt has benefited from significant international assistance in modernising and developing its infrastructure. In January 2009, the World Bank’s board of executive directors approved a loan of $600 million to support the Ain Sokhna Power project.