Egypt to Receive First Reactor Core for Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in November
CAIRO – 18 April 2025 – Egypt is set to receive the first reactor core for its under-construction Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) this November, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
The announcement was made during the visit of Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat to Russia, where he met with Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, and Andrey Petrov, President of Atomstroyexport.
Minister Esmat confirmed that the first reactor will arrive at the Dabaa site in early November, highlighting that special procedures and preparations are underway for the delivery.
During the meetings, both parties discussed progress on the next phases of the project, emphasizing their joint commitment to the agreed-upon timelines and schedules for completing all stages of the strategic power generation initiative, including integration into Egypt's unified electrical grid.
Located in Matrouh Governorate on Egypt's northwestern coast, the 4.8 GW Dabaa plant is being developed in cooperation with Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom and Egypt's Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA). Scheduled for full operation by 2030, the plant is expected to meet around 10 percent of Egypt's total electricity demand, generating up to 37 billion kilowatt-hours annually. Rosatom, contracted in 2015, is responsible for both the construction and the supply of nuclear fuel.
In January 2025, the Egyptian House of Representatives approved the Energy and Environment Committee's report on Presidential Decree No. 515 of 2024, which ratifies a protocol amending the intergovernmental financing agreement between Egypt and Russia. The amendment secures an export loan from Moscow to support the construction of Egypt's first nuclear facility.
The decree was reviewed by a joint parliamentary committee comprising members of the Energy and Environment Committee, along with representatives from the Planning and Budget, Economic Affairs, and Foreign Relations Committees. Over the course of three sessions, the committee examined the decree, its accompanying explanatory memorandum, and input from relevant government officials before recommending its approval.
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