By Salah El-Monoufi The Ministry of Electricity will hold an international bid in the coming days for the construction rights to the Dairut Electrical plant in the Beheira governorate. The decision comes after the ministry received $3.1 bn in financial guarantees from the Central Bank of Egypt and the Ministry of Finance to construct the plant in addition to plans to construct wind farms in the Gulf of Suez. The guarantee secured investments for both projects in addition to the cost of their energy production for the initial six months. Of the $3.1 bn, $2.5 bn has been allocated for construction of the Dairut Electrical plant. Both projects would be funded by private investment in the form of a Build, Own and Operate (BOO) scheme with the goal of producing 2,850 megawatts of energy in the context of the 2012-2017 five-year plan. A source close to the Ministry of Electricity said 34 companies sought to take part in the bid over the last two years but only 10 were chosen for their previous relevant experience working. These included two Malaysian companies, three Japanese conglomerates, an Egyptian-Indian firm, and a Saudi-South Korean partnership. These firms would be given between 30 and 45 days to prepare their technical and financial offers after the ministry laid out the necessary terms and conditions. He added that the Dairut Electrical Plant would be built on 70 feddans of land that would consist of three separate modules estimated to produce 2250 megawatts from six gas units and three steam units. The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) also stated that it to would be inviting six international conglomerates to participate in a bid for the rights to build wind farms in the Gulf of Suez area, which are expected to produce 200 megawatts of electricity. A ministerial committee that includes the ministries of petroleum, electricity, industry and finance will hold a meeting within days to discuss ways to address natural gas shortages in the country's electrical plants. The National Control Centre within the Ministry of Electricity said Egypt's national grid suffered from an estimated 2000 megawatt shortage over the last two days after the Ministry of Petroleum failed to provide the country's electrical plants with enough gas to fuel their operations.
