The companies executing the parallel electrical grid will complete the linking of Beni Suef's power lines to the Aswan High Dam in January 2018, at a cost of up to EGP 5.5bn. Sources from the Ministry of Electricity said that the implementation rate of the Beni Suef – Assiut line, which has 503 electrical towers, reached 91%. The line is being implemented by State Grid Corporation of China. Meanwhile, the implementation rate of the Assiut – Akhmim line, which includes 471 towers, has reached 10%. This line is being implemented by Elsewedy Electric. The sources added that the line between Akhmim and east Qena, which includes 467 towers, reached an implementation rate of 22%. This project is also being implemented by Elsewedy Electric. As for the east Qena – Aswan High Dam line of 182 towers, it marked a 42% completion rate. Saudi Arabia's National Contracting Company (NCC) is executing that projecct. The towers are being built to bear the voltage and capacity that is being added to the grid, amounting to 30,000 MW. The sources explained that the ultra-high voltage grid, of 500 kV, that is being built on the eastern bank of the Nile will be parallel to the grid that was established with the construction of the High Dam on the river's western bank. The sources stressed the importance of the new network east of the Nile to transfer energy generated from electricity production projects that are to be implemented on the coast of the Red Sea, as well as a large power plant being built in Beni Suef, another in south Helwan, and a number of coal plants in Safaga, Hamrawein, and El Quseir. The main objective of the parallel electric network is to avoid any blackouts or interruptions from occuring in the future, and to provide high quality energy to all consumers.
