- Egypt is planning to reoffer the Ataqa Mountain pumped storage power plant project in Suez to investors.
- Indian, Chinese, and European firms have shown initial interest in implementing the project, according to the official.
Egypt is planning to reoffer the Ataqa Mountain pumped storage power plant project in Suez to investors after Chinese company Sinohydro failed to secure the needed funding for the project, Asharq Business cited an unnamed government official.
The Attaqa power project is being developed as part of Egypt’s plans to diversify its energy sources and meet the growing demand for electricity in the Suez region.
Hydro Power Projects Executive Authority (HPPEA) and the Egyptian Electricity Authority approved the design and feasibility studies for the project in June 1998. However, the project development began when the Government of Egypt and Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding to build and finance the project in March 2015.
The key project management and consultancy contracts for the pumped storage project were subsequently awarded in June 2017.
The Export-Import Bank of China agreed to provide $2.6bn for the project in February 2019, according to a report. In June 2019, The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy was in negotiations with the country’s National Centre for Planning State Lands Usage to secure additional land use for the construction of the plant.
The Attaqa pumped storage project is located on the Attaqa Mountain at the northern end of the Red Sea mountain range, approximately 15km west of Suez . The total surface area of the project site is estimated to be 168,000m².
The official highlighted that the Chinese firm called on the government to participate in securing financing, but the request was declined.
Indian, Chinese, and European firms have shown initial interest in implementing the project, according to the official. The official said the project has a surplus of electricity in the grid, amounting to about 15,000 MW, expecting further large capacities of new and renewable energy into the grid during the coming years.
Meanwhile, the state has completed studies to establish two projects to produce electricity through hydropower through pumping and storage systems with capacities of up to 2,000 MW. The two projects in Qena and Luxor have combined investments of $2.5 billion. Egypt aims for renewable energy to reach 42 per cent of its electricity generation mix by 2035.