On Sunday, Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail witnessed the opening of the financial envelopes submitted by the three consortiums competing to construct the Hamrawein coal-fired power plant on the Red Sea with a capacity of 6,000 MW. The results showed that the Shanghai Electric-Dongfang Electric-Hassan Allam consortium offered the lowest priced bid at $4.4bn, while its alternative offer that is more environmentally friendly came at a cost of $4.58bn. Meanwhile, the General Electric-Harbin Electric consortium came in second place with an offer of $5.2bn, while its second offer came at $5.3bn. The third offer, submitted by Mitsubishi-Toyota-Orascom-Elsewedy consortium, was the highest priced at $6.19bn and $6.61bn. Egypt's minister of electricity, Mohamed Shaker, told Daily News Egypt that the financial envelopes were opened before the cabinet to ensure transparency. He explained that this is not the end result, since the winning bid will be announced within one week at the cabinet, after reviewing the paperwork of all bids in terms of financial, technical, and legal aspects in cooperation with the Belgian consulting firm Tractebel. He noted that the offers will be reviewed based on the weighted average, which includes the total cost of the project in terms of constructions and the price per kilowatt. The project is the first of its kind located at the Red Sea. It is being implemented under the EPC+Finance scheme, which obliges the implementing company to provide the required financing, while the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) will repay the loan after the completion of the project that will take seven years. On 15 February, Daily News Egypt published the value of the financial offer made by the Shanghai Electric-Dongfang Electric-Hassan Allam consortium, which was estimated to be $4.4bn. It stressed that it is the lowest price offered compared to the other consortiums. The Ministry of Electricity plans to produce 6,000 MW from plants that operate with coal by 2025, besides the project planned to be implemented by Emirati Al-Nowais. Shaker stressed that the negotiations with Emirati Al-Nowais to establish a coal plant in the area of "Oyun Musa" (Moses Spring) are in their final stages. The contracts will be signed this year.
