Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom started construction of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt on Wednesday, an official at Rosatom said.
"We have started [the construction of a nuclear power plant in Egypt]," TASS cited the official as saying.
El-Dabaa will be the first nuclear power plant in Egypt and the first major project of Rosatom in Africa.
It will be built in El-Dabaa city in the Governorate of Matrouh on the coastlines of the Mediterranean Sea. The El Dabaa NPP will comprise four units, with each of them having a capacity of 1200 MW, equipped with a Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactor, considered to be the latest technology for nuclear power plants, which has already been successfully implemented in other countries.
Russia and Egypt signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant in Cairo in November 2015. The total cost of construction is $30 billion. The parties also signed an agreement to provide Egypt with a state export loan of $25 billion for the construction of the nuclear power plant, which will cover 85% of the work. The remaining expenses should be covered by the Egyptian side by attracting private investors. Under the agreement Egypt is to start payments on the loan, which was provided at 3% per annum, in October 2029.
