South Korea signed a $2.2 billion deal with Russia’s state-owned Rosatom to provide buildings and components for a new Egyptian nuclear plant, media reports said.
The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. won a contract to supply buildings, equipment and materials for Egypt’s El Dabaa project, according to a statement from South Korea’s energy ministry.
The state-owned Korean company, which was selected as the sole bidder for the portion of El Dabaa project in December 2021, will construct the main and auxiliary buildings and structures of the turbine islands for the units between 2023 and 2029.
El Dabaa plant, with a capacity of 4,800 MW, is Egypt’s first nuclear plant and would be constructed at an estimated cost of $28.75 billion.
The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 1 of the nuclear power plant, marking the official start of construction of the first of four Russian-supplied VVER-1200 reactors, according to a report in World Nuclear News.
The contract stipulates that Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle. They will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation, the report added.