President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi will inaugurate the Beni Suef and Qanater Assiut power plants this month. Government sources told Daily News Egypt that the president will open a number of development projects in Upper Egypt, including Beni Suef's 4,800 MW power plant and the Qanater Assiut hydroelectric plant of 32 MW, while the inauguration of the New Administrative Capital and Borollos power plants have been postponed. The sources added that intensive preparations are underway at the Beni Suef power station before it is officially opened at full capacity. The total investments of the plant amounted to €2bn, as part of the €6bn agreement with Siemens to build three power plants. The sources pointed out that the German company carrying out the implementation of the stations did not complete the implementation of all the plant's steam production units, and therefore, the opening is being postponed to July or October. Meanwhile, the sources said that the Assiut hydroelectric station aims to improve the state of irrigation in five governorates: Assiut, Minya, Beni Suef, Fayoum, and Giza. It has a production capacity of 32 MW with an annual value of EGP 100m spent by the state on fuel. Mohamed Osama, chairperson of the Hydro Power Plants Executive Authority (HPPEA), said that the Assiut station is ready for the official opening after the experimental operation work proved the safety and readiness of the equipment for operation. He pointed out that the HPPEA managed to obtain a "no-objection" letter from the Ministry of Environment in order to include the project within the mechanism of clean development. The supervisor of the project carried out the necessary procedures made by developed countries, including carbon certificates that are provided for each amount of harmful emissions avoided. The station reduces emissions by nearly 702m tonnes of carbon dioxide, achieving high operational efficiency compared to other alternatives of traditional and renewable energy. Moreover, its economic cost is relatively convenient.
