The government of Egypt has highlighted its plans to reissue a tender for the construction of the Ataka hydropower plant project. According to a local media report, the contract is to build a pumped-hydropower storage plant in Mount Ataka. The project is rendered following a Chinese contractor’s failure to secure funding for the project. However, the monumental project has always faced setbacks despite the government’s ambition to ensure the project’s implementation. In 2015, China Sinohydro signed a memorandum of understanding with Egypt’s Electricity & Energy Ministry.
The scope of implementation issued in the contract aimed to develop a 2,100 MW dam storage project. Three years later, Egypt Electricity Holding Company and Sinohydro signed a contract to develop a 2,400 MW dam project. Its scope entailed the 2.4 GW pumped-storage hydro project in the Suez area instead. At the time, Egypt’s Electricity Minister, Mohamed Shaker, said that the Chinese company had signed contracts to develop the project. Situated at Jabal Ataqa, the minister noted that the company agreed a 100% concession financing agreement.
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The Scope of Implementation of the Ataka Hydropower Plant Project
Despite these setbacks, Egypt is still committed to ensuring that the Ataka hydropower plant project comes to life. Egypt is now understood to be planning to offer the project to Indian, Chinese or European companies. In October 2023, China Energy is also understood to have signed a contract with the Electricity and Energy Ministry. The contract’s scope entails the preparation of a technical and financial feasibility study for a pumped-storage hydropower plant in Egypt.
Hydroelectric power has played a fundamental role in Egypt’s electricity mix. The Aswan high dam, constructed in the 1960s, generates up to 2.1GW of electricity. On the other hand, two hydroelectric plants on the old Awan dam provide 550MW. Both dams are located downstream from the other dam. Two other major hydroelectric plants are at Esna (86MW) and Naga Hammadi (64MW). In 2018, Egypt commissioned a 32MW hydropower plant on the Nile river basin in Assiut. These monumental projects play a major role in ensuring Egypt meets its electrical demands.
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