El Dabaa NPP as significant as Aswan High Dam, says Russian ambassador : New Nuclear

March 11, 2021

The importance of the first Egyptian nuclear power plant is comparable to that of the Aswan Dam, said the Russian ambassador to Egypt, Georgy Borisenko, yesterday. The largest dam in the world, built between 1960 and 1970 in Aswan, Egypt, on the other side of the Nile, was designed by the Moscow Hydroproject Institute. Borisenko made the comparison during a visit to the construction site of the El Dabaa plant with the Chairman of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plant Authority (NPPA), Amged El-Wakeel.

Center LR: NPPA Chairman Amged El-Wakeel and Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko (Image: Rosatom)

Four Russian-designed VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors are planned for El Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast, 170 km west of Alexandria and Zafraana on the Gulf of Suez. The Russian state nuclear company Rosatom is developing the facility, which is owned and operated by the NPPA. With a nameplate capacity of 4.8 GWe, the facility is expected to account for up to 50% of Egypt’s power generation capacity to meet the country’s growing electricity needs.

According to a statement from Rosatom, Borisenko said: “The El Dabaa NPP project is the largest joint project between Moscow and Cairo. This not only strengthens our traditional relationships with dignity, but also takes them to new strategic heights. It is important that the implementation of this project is comparable to that of the Aswan High Dam hydropower project that was carried out by our countries during the Soviet era. I am confident that the El Dabaa NPP project will also be proof of the highest professionalism of Russian and Egyptian specialists and that it will make a significant contribution to the social and economic development of Egypt by providing the country with clean and affordable energy for decades. “”

El-Wakeel added that the construction of the El Dabaa plant is currently one of Egypt’s most ambitious projects. “It is the realization of the dream of a peaceful nuclear program that the Egyptian people have been in the cradle since the 20th century. Given the importance of the station for the future economic development of the country and for its energy sovereignty, it was crucial for us to have a We are glad to have found such a partner in Russia, our longtime ally and friend. We are convinced that advanced Russian technologies combined with Egyptian diligence will be the key to the success of this grandiose project. “

The delegation also included Russia’s sales representative in Egypt, Nikolay Aslanov, Russia’s consul general in Alexandria, Karen Vasilyan, the head of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Alexandria, representatives of the engineering department of Rosatom, ASE JSC (including the director of the El Dabaa NPP) Project, Grigory Sosnin, and the director for the construction of nuclear power plants in Egypt (Anatoly Kovtunov) and Rosatom’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, Alexander Voronkov.

The Egyptian side of the delegation included the deputy chairman of the NPP and chief curator of the El Dabaa project, Mohamed Ramadan, and the deputy chairman for engineering projects, Mohammed Youssef.

After visiting the construction site of the future reactor units, the delegation visited the seaport, which will be dedicated to the transport of heavy equipment to the plant.

The El Dabaa nuclear power plant project is based on contracts that came into force on December 11, 2017. These stipulate that Rosatom will not only build the power plant, but also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. They will also assist Egyptian partners in training staff and maintaining the facilities for the first 10 years of operation. Rosatom is also contracted to build a special warehouse and deliver containers for the storage of used nuclear fuel.

Four VVER-1200 units are already in operation in Russia – two in Novovoronezh II and two in Leningrad II. The first VVER-1200 to be built outside of Russia is in Ostrovets, Belarus.

Borisenko, former director of the North America office in the Russian Foreign Ministry, was appointed Russian Ambassador to Egypt and Russian Plenipotentiary to the League of Arab States in April 2020 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News