Russia and Egypt have signed the notices to proceed with the contracts for the construction of the $30bn El Dabaa nuclear power plant in the African country.

As per the contracts, Russia’s state-owned utility Rosatom will be responsible for the construction of 4,800MW nuclear power plant in the Matrouh region on the Mediterranean coast to help ensure competitive electricity pricing over a period of 60 years in the country.

In addition to conducting personnel training, Rosatom will assist Egyptian partners in the operation and maintenance of the power plant for the first ten years of its operation.

Scheduled to be commissioned in 2026, the nuclear power plant will comprise four VVER-1200 nuclear units, each with 1,200MW capacity.

The nuclear reactors, which will be fully compliant with post-Fukushima International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements, will be owned and operated by Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority, which is a part of Egypt’s Ministry of Energy.

The scope of the contracts also includes construction of a purpose-built storage and supply of containers for storing spent fuel throughout the plant’s operational lifetime.

Rosatom director general Alexey Likhachev said: “The contracts we’ve signed are a record-breaking deal in the history of the nuclear industry.

“We offered our partners in Egypt a unique comprehensive agreement that spans the power plant’s entire life cycle, i.e. 70 to 80 years.

“The development of Egypt’s nuclear power industry is also important to Russia’s economy as dozens of Rosatom enterprises will be awarded significant contracts and will have an opportunity to showcase to the global community the advantage of Russian nuclear technologies.”

Rosatom expects the said the construction of the first unit to have a localization level of at least 20%. Further units are expected to be even more localized.


Image: Rosatom headquarters in Russia. Photo: courtesy of Lewa~commonswiki/Wikipedia.