The two largest contracts awarded during June were for work on projects in Egypt, as Cairo builds on the economic momentum it generated at the Egypt Economic Development Conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh in March.

The largest award by far was a $9bn deal secured by Germany’s Siemens to build 16.4GW of additional power capacity. Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Germany’s Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel witnessed the signing of the contracts at the German Ministry of Economy in Berlin on 3 June.

In partnership with Egyptian firms Elsewedy Electric and Orascom Construction, Siemens will build three gas-fired power plants, each with a capacity of 4.8GW, with a total capacity of 14.4GW. The power plants at Beni Suef, Burullus and New Capital will be powered by Siemens’ H-Class turbines.

The first 4.4GW will come online before the summer of 2017 and the full 14.4GW will become available 38 months after the financing has closed and advance payments have been received.

Siemens will also deliver up to 12 wind farms in the Gulf of Suez and West Nile areas, which will consist of 600 turbines and a total installed capacity of 2GW.

The second-largest deal was a $2bn oil exploration contract secured by Eni. The Italian oil major has agreed with Egypt’s state-owned energy company to invest in exploration, development and operations in Sinai and the Nile Delta. The award was announced on 1 June by Egypt’s oil ministry.

Away from Egypt, the only other contract worth $1bn or more was a deal for the supply of oil tankers for the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri). South Korea’s Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) secured a deal for five very large crude carriers (VLCCs).