CAIRO: Egypt and Russia are set to sign a contract later this month to construct Egypt’s first nuclear power plant (NPP,) officials from the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity said Tuesday.
The contract will be signed between the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and the Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom to build the eight-reactor power plant. President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and his Russian Counterpart Vladimir Putin will also sign the contract, the officials told Youm7.
According to the contract, the construction of the plant is to be accomplished in two phases; Russia will build four reactors, while the other four reactors will be offered for an international tender. Each reactor will produce 1,200 Megawatt of electricity.
The construction works are scheduled to start in mid 2016, while the first reactor will operate by 2020.
In February, Sisi and Putin announced reaching agreements on building the plant and establishing a Russian-Egyptian free trade zone.
In 1981, Egypt allocated the Dabaa area in Mediterranean governorate of Matrouh, 183.9 miles to the northwest of Cairo, to build its first nuclear plant of 55 square kilometers.
A Russian delegation of 300 businessmen had visited Egypt in May to discuss ways to promote and diversify bilateral economic relations between the two countries, Russian-Egyptian Business Council said in a statement.