Russia Building Egypt’s Nuclear Power

At the last international parliamentary conference ‘Russia – Africa in a Multipolar World’ held on March 20 under the auspices of the State Duma of the Russian Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated in his speech that the partnership between Russia and African countries has gained additional momentum and is reaching a whole new level, and further added that “Russia would continue helping African countries with electricity production, which so far covers only a quarter of the continent’s needs.”

According to the transcript made available at the Kremlin website, Russia is offering new environmentally friendly technologies, primarily in nuclear energy. Rosatom is already building a nuclear power plant in Egypt and plans to expand its involvement in the development of the national energy systems of the African continent. And that Russia, in some countries, would provide 100-percent funding of these nuclear projects.

Early February 2015, President Putin and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signed an agreement to set up a nuclear plant in Dabaa, on the Mediterranean coast west of the port city of Alexandria, where a research reactor has stood for years. The deal was signed after a comprehensive bilateral discussion held and both expressed high hopes that Russia would help construct the country’s first nuclear facility.

The Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy first signed the agreement n development of the nuclear plant construction project in February 2015 with Russia’s Rosatom. The agreement indicates the construction of four power blocks, each with 1,200 megawatts of capacity.