The Egyptian government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a consortium of the local Orascom Construction and Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) to build a 2,000MW-3,000MW coal-fired power plant in Egypt.

Under the terms of the MoU, the Orascom/Ipic consortium will have an 18-month period to conduct and finalise all relevant project studies. The proposed plant will be located near the El-Hamarawein port on the Red Sea coast.

The coal-fired plant forms part of Egypt’s efforts to meet the rapid growth in demand for electricity. In September this year, Cairo suffered from a number of major blackouts due to supply shortages.

In June, newly elected President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi pledged to prioritise the country’s long-delayed 1,600MW nuclear power project at El-Dabaa as part of Cairo’s commitment to solving the power crisis.