The Dabaa nuclear plant is finally getting off the ground: Russian state nuclear company Rosatom has started building the 4.8 GW Dabaa nuclear power plant, the company said in a statement. The company yesterday began laying the concrete foundations for the plant, kicking off an eight-year construction process that is expected to see it come online at the beginning of the next decade.

Refresher: Rosatom was contracted in 2015 to handle the construction and provide fuel for the plant, which will feature four 1.2-GW reactors. The facility will cost somewhere around USD 30 bn, 85% of which is being financed through a USD 25 bn loan from Russia, with Egypt scheduled to begin repaying the sum in October 2029.

Covid forced a two-year delay: Construction work was set to begin in the second half of 2020 and complete by the 2028-2029 fiscal year, but disruptions caused by the pandemic now means that the plant is unlikely to be up and running before 2030. Rosatom acquired a license to begin construction earlier this month.

The news was picked up in the foreign press: Bloomberg | The National.