Russia will loan Egypt $25b to finance building and operating a nuclear power plant in the country, Reuters reported. Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said the loan would be paid off over the next 35 years.
Sisi approved the agreement in a decree. The loan will finance 85% of the value of each contract for the work, services and equipment shipping, while the remaining 15% will be financed by Egypt. The interest rate will reach 3% annually and the installment payments are to begin in 2029 and continue for the next 22 years.
The plant, which is to house four 1,200 MW nuclear reactors, is due to be completed in 2022, and the first of its reactors is expected to begin producing power in 2024, informed Press TV.
In November 2015, Cairo and Moscow signed an agreement for Russia to build Egypt’s first nuclear power plant in Dabaa and to extend a loan to cover the cost of construction, wrote Ahram Online. The site is located in the north of the country, in Marsa Matrouh governorate.
Egypt, with a population of 90 million and vast energy requirements, is seeking to diversify its energy sources. As well as a nuclear plant, the president has talked of building solar and wind energy facilities in the coming three years to generate around 4,300 MW of power.
According to Energy Business Review that cited the official Russian gazette, “the loan will be used by the Egyptian side for a period of 13 years between 2016 and 2028.”
