Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) has applied for a construction permit for units 3 and 4 of the planned El-Dabaa nuclear power plant.

Similar documentation was submitted in June for units 1 and 2, MEED earlier reported.

Full-scale construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, which will be located in the Matrouh province on the Mediterranean coast, is expected to begin once the permits are obtained.

NPPA and Atomstroyexport (ASE), the engineering division of the project’s main contractor, Russian Rosatom, prepared the required licensing application documents.

Nuclear technology

The El-Dabaa nuclear power plant will have a capacity of 4,800MW once completed.

Rosatom plans to deploy four units of the Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactor at the plant. According to the firm, the same reactor units have been installed and are operating at two nuclear power plants in Russia and another plant in Belarus.  

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On 15 July, an Egyptian and Russian delegation headed by Rosatom director-general Alexey Likhachev and Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohammed Shaker visited the construction site of the project, where early works are underway.

Contract awards 

Earlier in January, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), was approved as the single supplier for the construction of the turbine islands for the El-Dabaa project.

KHNP is expected to undertake further negotiations on price and contract terms with ASE, which will undertake the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project, before the final signing of the contract.

Negotiations are expected to commence in February, with a final contract signing set for April, subject to internal approval measures and the status of the negotiations and business conditions, according to a local media report.

Construction package

In June 2021, Rosatom subsidiary Titan 2 awarded local firm Hassan Allam Construction a contract for the construction and support base package (CSB) for the scheme.

The contract covers 176 buildings and facilities with a built-up area of 375,000 square metres.

It covers engineering and construction works for production and storage facilities, utility networks and administrative buildings.

The complex will be used to preassemble, construct and execute the nuclear and turbine islands.

Russian firm Fensma was also recently appointed for the detailed design of waterproofing works for the four reactors as well as the excavation of the foundations for the first two reactors.

Bilateral scheme

Egypt and Russia signed the initial intergovernmental agreement for the North African state’s first nuclear facility in November 2015.

In May 2016, Egypt signed an agreement with Russia for a $25bn loan to cover the cost of 85% of the project.

Cairo signed the final agreements and notice to proceed (NTP) with Rosatom in December 2017 during meetings between Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Cairo.

In January last year, the NPPA awarded Australia’s Worley a ten-year consultancy services contract for the project.


Energy Transition in the Middle East    

A major new report from MEED looks at how the global shift away from fossil fuels is reshaping energy policy in the Middle East and North Africa, and its impact on business and project investment. 

Learn more about the report here


This article is published by MEED, the world’s leading source of business intelligence about the Middle East. MEED provides exclusive news, data and analysis on the Middle East every day. For access to MEED’s Middle East business intelligence, subscribe here.