The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) has obtained a loan from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for $243m to finance the automated control centres of the electricity distribution companies of Alexandria, North Delta, and North Cairo. Sources in the Ministry of Electricity said that the payment period is 30 years with a 1-year grace period and an interest rate of 0.01%. Contracting was conducted with a Japanese international consultant in alliance with Electric Power Systems Engineering Company (EPS), in order to establish the technical specifications and standards of the project. Sources revealed that a global tender will be launched next month to choose the implementing companies. There were two options to launch the tender, the first was to launch them to local companies only with a higher interest rate, or for international companies with a lower interest rate. The job of the automated control centres is to monitor the medium voltage grid, make modifications and additions of date, monitor operation data, store them, give warning on the occurrence of an increase or decrease of voltage, and detect faults. The centres' jobs also includes issuing technical reports of the network, carry out applied electrical studies, act as a training centre for the control engineers, activate the applied role of geographic information systems and locating them on electronic survey maps. Mohamed Shaker, the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, demanded serious companies that aim to contribute to the development projects of the control centres to offer technical and financial offers over the next six weeks, where the update is expected to be done within 24 months. During his meeting with several companies working in the field, Shaker said, in the presence of the heads of regional controllers of transport and distribution companies, that the priorities of the sector currently include implementing a development plan of the transmission and distribution networks to accommodate the added capacities from new projects, as well as enhance the services offered to the public. The minister stressed the necessity of developing the three transmission control centres and the 14 distribution control centres, noting that eight companies have expressed their desire to contribute to the development of these centres, namely Siemens, General Electric, ABB, Schneider, Dongfang, DFE, PSI, and Huawei. The Electricity Ministry aims to rehabilitate, develop and expand electric networks across the country within two years according to the instructions of President Al-Sisi. He promised to offer all the money necessary for the sector to provide electricity without issues.
