Egypt moves location of $2.2bn Dairut IPP

18 May 2017

Gas-fired power plant will have a capacity of about 2,250MW

Egypt’s Electricity Ministry and Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) have moved the location of the planned 2,250MW Dairut independent power project (IPP) to a site in Luxor.

According to source close to the project, the location for the project has been formally moved to Luxor, and Egypt’s EHHC continues negotiations with a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and the local Hassan Allam Construction, the group selected to develop the IPP, which will have an estimated total cost of $2.2bn.

The planned 2,250MW IPP has faced a number of delays since Acwa Power submitted a proposal in March 2015. MEED reported in early 2016 that EEHC had planned to award the contract and sign the power purchase agreement (PPA) with the developer group in April 2016. Following the decision to switch location, negotiations between the client and the Acwa Power/Hassan Allam consortium continue.

The combined-cycle scheme is regarded as a key project for Egypt’s development, representing the largest IPP tendered to date and also the first one in the market since the late 1990s.

Three build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) IPPs started up in the early 2000s, each comprising two steam turbine units of about 340MW. The first was undertaken by Intergen, a developer then affiliated with the US’ Bechtel, and Italy’s Edison at Sidi Krier, east of Alexandria. Two more followed, in Suez and East Port Said, carried out by France’s EDF International.

Plans for an IPP at Dairut were first launched in 2009, when EEHC issued a tender for a build-own-operate (BOO) combined-cycle plant at Dairut.

EEHC received 19 applications for the prequalification phase, one of which was approved. By the time of the revolution in January 2011, the government had yet to conclude agreements with legal and financial advisers, and there was no progress with the scheme until early 2013.

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