Cabinet endorses EIB’s $600mn-loan for Egypt’s Damanhour power plant

Egyptian Cabinet endorsed Wednesday the draft of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s decree on the $600 million-loan provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance a new power plant in Beheira governorate.

Beheira’s Damanhour power plant is set to operate with the capacity of  1,800Mw and is part of state’s five-year plan to develop the national power grid by 2017.

The loan is part of a financing package for the set-to-be-established plant which is estimated at US$1.3 billion. The package also includes a US$200 million loan from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and a US$80 million loan from the African Development Bank.

Damanhour Electricity Company – a subsidiary of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company – is set to carry $240 million of the project costs.