Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s government has signed contracts worth a total of €8bn ($9bn) with Germany’s Siemens to build 16.4GW of additional power capacity in Egypt.

Al-Sisi and German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel witnessed the signing of the contracts at Germany’s Ministry of Economy in Berlin on 3 June 2015.

The projects will boost Egypt’s installed electricity capacity by 16.4GW.

In partnership with Egyptian companies 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 windfarms in the Gulf of Suez and West Nile areas, which will consist of 600 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 2GW. Under the agreement, Siemens will build a rotor blade factory in Egypt’s Ain Sokha area. The factory will provide employment for up to 1,000 people, and is scheduled to be operational in 2017.

Siemens Financial Services arm has structured a financing package for Siemens in the contract, which will include a tailored guarantee concept. The loans, which are expected to be supported by Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) from Germany and Denmark, will be financed by large international and regional banks.

The contracts were built on MOUs signed at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in March.