Egypt is pushing ahead with plans to build two large-scale thermal power plants as part of its efforts to build an additional 54GW of generating capacity by 2022.

When completed, the Damanhour and South Helwan power plants will be two of the largest thermal power plants in the country.

The West Delta Electricity Production Company has invited companies to submit bids for the contract to build the 1,500MW to 1,800MW Damanhour combined-cycle power plant on 2 May. The proposed power plant will be funded from loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the African Development Bank (ADB).

For the 1,950MW South Helwan project, the Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company has tendered the remaining electrical equipment and instruments packages for the power plant, with bids due on 20 May. In mid-2014, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Toyota Tsusho Corporation was awarded the contract to supply three sets of 650MW supercritical steam turbines and generators for the proposed plant, which has been designed to run on natural gas, oil, or a combination of both if required.

As with the Damanhour project, the South Helwan scheme will receive funding assistance from a number of international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the IBRD.

Selected major planned power projects

Table taken from information in MEED Insight’s Opportunity Egypt 2015 report - http://www.ecommerce-meed.com/Opportunity-Report-2015-p/opportunity-egypt-2015.htm

The thermal power plants form part of Cairo’s efforts to meet the rapidly increasing demand for power. Peak load has risen from about 13,300MW in the 2001/02 fiscal year to 27,000MW in 2012/13. Peak demand grew by 6 per cent in 2014 and is forecast to continue expanding at this rate until 2022.

The Electricity & Energy Ministry is planning to develop 54GW of new power capacity by 2022, at a rate of about 6.5GW a year. At the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC), held in Sharm el-Sheikh in March, the ministry signed agreements for nearly 40GW of new generation capacity.

These included the signing of a contract with Germany’s Siemens to build the 4.4GW combined-cycle Beni Suef power plant in Upper Egypt. Also at the event, the US’ GE signed contracts to install 2.7GW of emergency power capacity by the end of July 2015.

Further agreements signed at the conference include memorandum of understandings (MOUS) for more than 16GW of coal-fired power plants.