Agreement on building nuclear power plant in Egypt to push Russian nuclear tech to Africa

Russia and Egypt have signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in building Egypt’s first nuclear power plant. The document was signed by Rosatom Director General Sergei Kiryenko and Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Sources Mohamed Shaker in the presence of Egypt President Abdelfattah Said Elsisi. “While making the decision [which provider of technology for the future nuclear power plant to choose] we paid close attention to nuclear power plant safety measures. After a thorough study we have chosen the offer, which is also best from the economic point of view,” stressed the Egypt President. The nuclear power plant will have four power-generating units with each generating 120MW of electricity. It will be built in the El Dabaa area.

Leonid Gusev, an expert of the analysis center of the Moscow State University of International Relations of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told media that the signing of the agreement on building a nuclear power plant in Egypt will allow Russian nuclear engineering technologies to penetrate a new market — Africa. The technologies that have been perfected for decades (in 2015 the Russian nuclear industry celebrated its 70th anniversary) will allow Russia to bolster its positions in North Africa and the Middle East.

Negotiations on building a nuclear power plant in Egypt have been going for a long time. In February 2015 when the agreement on advancing the project was signed it became clear that the negotiations were moving towards concrete arrangements on implementing the project.

It is remarkable that initially Egypt intended to have only two units built but now it would like four. I think the Russian offer turned out to be very appealing for Egypt. It has been repeatedly stated by representatives of the Egyptian government.

On the whole, Russia has secured noticeable accomplishments in building nuclear power plants abroad. Egypt was convinced by the unique project to finish the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran: Rosatom finished the power plant in conditions of sanctions against Iran. Reliable operation of the power-generating unit that has been built (even in earthquake conditions) could demonstrate the high quality of Russian nuclear technologies to the Egyptian side.

The construction of a water desalination complex will be a unique feature of the Egyptian project. It is a new product that will be in demand in many countries experiencing a shortage of fresh water. The potential of the market for water desalination powered by nuclear technologies is estimated at $2 trillion for the next 15 years.