The Ministry of Electricity and Energy is discussing borrowing US$1 billion to finance the forthcoming five year plan, reliable sources in the ministry said. The projects in the 2012-2017 plan should generate more than 14,000 megawatts to meet the sharp rise in demand for electric power. Sources pointed out to Al-Masry Al-Youm that the ministry will discuss financial plans before the Committee on Energy and Industry at the Shura Council this week, and will request approval. The plan aims not to disrupt the construction of power stations that have already been agreed upon. The sources added that the International Bank, the African Development Bank, the Kuwait Financial Fund and the Commercial International Bank (CIB) are the most prominent financial backers of Egypt's infrastructure projects. They also added that the next five year plan will involve the construction of 29 power stations with an investment value of up to LE120 billion. They attributed the rise in the required amount of funds to the unprecedented increase in the prices of imported basic components needed to build power stations. They said that the price of constructing power stations is expected to rise three times more during the forthcoming five year plan than in the current plan. The cost of constructing a 1500 megawatt station was about LE350 million, and it is expected to reach almost LE1 billion in new contracts.
