El Dabaa Nuclear Plant is Getting Two Additional Reactors

Two additional reactors are being planned for the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, expanding the country’s first nuclear energy project beyond its current four-unit design.

Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mahmoud Esmat said the plan was adopted following instructions from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and will be discussed with Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom. No timeline has been set for the talks, and a final decision on the expansion has not yet been announced.

The existing plant is designed to include four VVER-1200 pressurised-water reactors with a combined capacity of 4.8 gigawatts. Each reactor is rated at 1,200 megawatts, with the four units targeted for completion by the 2029/2030 fiscal year.

Rosatom is constructing the plant under an agreement first signed in 2015. Russia is financing 85% of the project’s estimated USD 30 billion cost through a state export loan, while the remaining 15% is being funded by the Egyptian side over several decades.

The proposed expansion forms part of wider plans to increase nuclear and renewable generation while reducing reliance on traditional fuels. Esmat said El Dabaa is expected to save around 8 million cubic metres of gas that can be redirected elsewhere in the energy system.

Further energy projects under consideration include stand-alone solar units with battery storage for agricultural areas, alongside around 5 gigawatts of solar capacity, 4 gigawatts of wind and 8 gigawatts of battery energy storage. These projects are intended to support a target of raising the share of new and renewable energy to 45% by 2028.