The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) has won a contract worth KRW 3 trillion to build a nuclear power plant in El Dabaa, Egypt.
The government-run agency on Aug. 25 announced its signing of a contract in Cairo, Egypt, with Atomstroyexport aka ASE, a subsidiary of Russia's public nuclear power company Rosatom, for the second phase of the project's construction in El Dabaa.
This is Korea's first order earned for a nuclear plant abroad worth over KRW 1 trillion since 2009, when Korea Electric Power Corp. landed a contract worth KRW 21 trillion to build a similar plant in Barakah, the United Arab Emirates. The latest deal is Korea's entry into the African nuclear power market after that of the Middle East.
Ordered by Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority, the project will have ASE build four reactors with a combined electrical output of 1,200 megawatts. Construction will begin this year and end in 2030 in El Dabaa, which is 300 km northwest of Cairo.
The project cost is an estimated USD 30 billion (KRW 40 trillion). Last month, the pouring of concrete for the first reactor began and its commercial operations are expected to start in 2028.
The KHNP will build four nuclear reactors and 80 related buildings as well provide structures. The project is expected to run from August next year through 2029.
The government expects the project to help the nation secure similar orders elsewhere including in the Czech Republic and Poland, and serve as an opportunity to revive the nuclear power ecosystem, which had languished due to the former administration's policy of phasing out nuclear energy.
KHNP President and CEO Whang Joo-ho said on the same day, "The order for the second-phase construction of the El-Dabaa nuclear plant project is a major achievement proving Korea's excellent capacity in construction and project management as shown in the UAE project."
"Based on our construction experience in the UAE, whose environment is similar to Egypt's, the KHNP will do its best to successfully complete the El-Dabaa nuclear project and strive to win more overseas orders for nuclear plants."
