The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) agreed with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to borrow EGP 18bn to strengthen the national electricity grid. Chairperson of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company Gamal Abdel Rahim, said that the company will sign the contracts with NBE at the end of the month, noting it will be a long term loan disbursed over two tranches to pay the dues owed to companies that are implementing new projects to expand and upgrade the transmission network. The company has been seeking a loan to finance projects of new electricity lines to transmit energy. EETC has recently agreed with Elsewedy Electric Company and National Contracting Company (NCC) on the implementation of a power line from Samalout to Nag Hammadi at a cost of EGP 4bn. Abdel Rahim added that the new lines will accommodate the new energy added through the emergency plan. He noted that the grid has been getting more energy through developing existing plants or establishing new ones. Informed sources said that the loan agreement includes repayment of the loan over 15 years, including a three-year grace period, at an interest rate of 2.5%. The source added that EETC has earlier received similar offers from NBE, Banque Misr, QNB, and the Arab African International Bank, among other banks. The Ministry of Electricity aims to implement new projects in the field of transmission and distribution of electricity at a cost amounting to EGP 37bn, consisting of EGP 18bn for transmission networks and EGP 19bn for distribution. EETC has also signed an agreement to implement projects worth EGP 12bn, including a project to establish six transformer stations by Siemens at a cost of EGP 2.1bn. These projects come as part of the Ministry of Electricity's plan to establish an electricity transmission network, which aims to raise the capacity of the grid to 50,000 MW. The past two years have seen growing activity in the electricity sector in obtaining loans to finance more projects, including the establishment of three powerplants in Borollos, the New Administrative Capital, and Beni Suef. The sector is also expected to receive loans of EGP 60bn to support the distribution and transmission networks and pay part of its dues to the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth.
