Egypt will sign an agreement with Siemens within weeks to establish six new electricity transmission stations at a cost of €240 million (US$268 million), Mohamed El-Yammany, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Electricity, told Ahram Online Thursday. The deal will be assigned directly to Siemens to establish transmission stations at a capacity of 500/220 Kilovolt in 18 months, the spokesperson said. German industrial company Siemens signed an €8 billion (US$9 billion) deal in June with the Egyptian government to establish three high-efficiency natural gas power plants and wind power installations at a capacity of 16.4 gigawatts. El-Yammany said the transmission stations will serve the power plants located in Burullus on the north coast, Upper Egypt's Beni Suef, and the planned administrative capital. Heba Adel Hamid, a Siemens Egypt spokesperson, was not able to comment on the deal as the company has not yet signed any contracts. The deal comes as part of the country's urgent plan to develop transmission stations in a cascading power grid at a total cost of 13.13 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.7 billion). Egypt has suffered from an energy crunch since 2008, representing a challenge to the growing domestic demand and a hurdle to economic growth. Siemens has been operating in Egypt since 1859 with its technologies having been implemented in the Nubaria, Talkha, Damietta, Sidi Krir, El Kureimat and other power plants. Source: Ahram Online
