Cairo wants to fast-track the Egypt to Saudi Arabia electricity interconnection cable project that will bolster its electricity supply with an additional 3,000MW of energy from the kingdom.

“We are trying to accelerate this project. It is expected it will be complete in the first half of 2018, maybe even 2017,” said Egypt’s Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker, speaking at a conference in Cairo on 17 February. “We are trying to push ahead, but there are many considerations.”

Last December, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) approved $220m of financing for the project.

It is hoped the scheme will help Egypt meet domestic demand for energy, which is increasing rapidly as the country’s population expands.