CAIRO, March 19. /TASS/. The El-Dabaa nuclear power plant project implemented by Russia’s Rosatom corporation in Egypt is proceeding ahead of the schedule, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said on Sunday.
"So far, we are ahead of the schedule," he told journalists responding to the relevant question.
El Dabaa will be the first nuclear power plant in Egypt and Rosatom’s first major project in Africa.
It will be built in El-Dabaa city in the Governorate of Matrouh on the Mediterranean Sea coastline. 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.
Russia and Egypt signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of Egypt'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 construction works. The remaining expenses are to 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 a rate of 3% per annum, in October 2029.