The first phase of Egypt’s 300 MW, USD 60-70 mn power interconnection project with Sudan should be operational by December of this year, Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) sources say. India’s Larsen & Toubro had been awarded the contracts to link the two countries’ electricity grids, and should sign the final agreement “soon,” Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker had said earlier this month. This comes as the USD 1.6 bn Egypt-Saudi power interconnection project has reportedly been pushed to 2022 from 2020 as plans have been redrawn to accommodate the development of the Neom robot city.

On a related note, the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) is planning to launch USD 4.8 bn a tender before the end of the year for the development of two power plants in Luxor and Qena worth a total , unnamed EEHC sources tell Al Mal. Negotiations are ongoing with international lenders to secure funding for the two stations, which would add a combined 4 GW of capacity to the national grid. The Electricity Ministry is considering establishing the projects under a build-own-operate framework with seven-year contracts. We had noted earlier that EEHC was reviewing offers from international consultants including Artelia Group, Black and Veatch, and Fichtner.