Egypt on 4 September finally, after two years of talks, signed a deal to use Russian investment to build a 4800MWe nuclear power plant at El Dabaa, on the Mediterranean coast.
The agreement followed a meeting between Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin who were attending the BRICS summit in Beijing. Egypt signed an intergovernmental agreement with Russia to collaborate on construction and operation of a plant equipped with four 1200MWe reactors in November 2015. Egypt will receive a $25bn Russian loan to cover 85% of the construction cost, with Egypt to contributing the remainder from private investors.
The El Dabaa project is expected to be completed within 12 years, and Egypt will start its repayment of the loan at an interest rate of 3% from October 2029.
