Egypt To Develop The First Hydropower Plant in the Middle East
The Egyptian Ministry of Electricity is planning to build the first hydropower plant in the Middle East, Ataqa pumped storage project, located on Ataqa Mountain, Red Sea.
The plant will be built at a capacity of 2,400-MW to utilize renewable energy resources. The project will be developed in cooperation with Sinohydro, a Chinese state-owned hydropower company, both Artelia and AF Consult Switzerland as owner’s engineer.
According to hydroworld, Artelia says Ataqa “will support the Ministry’s plans to diversify the energy sources in the country and will also help meet the growing electricity demand in the region in order for Egypt to benefit from energy produced from new and renewable sources and to be able to store this energy to be used when needed.”
Electricity Minister, Mohamed Shaker, said during a meeting on Tuesday that several agreements have been signed to build Benban solar park, to improve basic services for the citizens. Benban solar park is set to be the largest solar installation in the world, with 32 power plants.
Shaker also added that there’s a ministry plan to upgrade old power stations as well in order to minimize fuel consumption.
