Egypt’s Delta Electricity Production Company has secured a KD30m ($104m) loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development for the Ain Sokhna thermal power plant.

In addition to the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the project previously secured a $450m loan from the African Development Bank and a $600m loan from the World Bank.

The remaining costs of the project will be covered by the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) and the Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development.

The power plant, which is planned for a site about 150km east of the capital, will have a capacity of 1,300MW when complete.

South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction was recently awarded a $330m contract to build the facility. Doosan will design, supply and install the two 650MW units for the power plant.

The Ain Sokhna plant will be the first in the country to use supercritical technology, which increases the overall efficiency of the plant, allowing a faster response to fluctuating demand, and reducing emissions.

Egypt is expected to see a 5 per cent growth in annual power demand and Doosan estimates rising power demand in Egypt means the country will need to install an extra 2,000MW a year of capacity over the coming years.