USD450m Turkish bid to build power plant in Sinai

By Alaa El Taweel The Egyptian industry ministry's Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has received a USD 450 million bid from a Turkish investor to establish a power plant in Jabal Al Mahghara, Northern Sinai, using as feedstock coal extracted from the mountains, a top IDA executive told Zawya. 
 
The plant will have a capacity to produce 200 MW, which will go toward resolving the power shortage in the area, said IDA chief executive Ismail Al-Nagdi.
Egypt produces 23,000 MW of electricity annually, while the demand exceeds 25,000 MW. This forces the National Grid to effect an alternating blackout across different Egyptian governorates.

The project will be implemented as a public-private partnership, Al- Nagdi said, adding that the generated capacity from the plant will cover the needs of the hotel facilities in Sinai that includes the largest amount of hotel services in Egypt, as Sharm El Sheikh, Nuweiba and Taba cities abound in hotels and resorts.

Establishing power stations according to the PPP scheme may help eliminate the blackouts across the country that hit several regions last summer, said Atter Hannoura, the head of the PPP Central Unit at the finance ministry.