Egypt to add Marsa Alam on national electrical grid for 1st time

CAIRO – 10 May 2020: The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy announced Sunday the start of experiments for operating AlKosair - Marsa Alam electric line with a voltage of 220 kV and a length of 150 km, in addition to operating two mobile stations in Marsa Alam with a voltage of "220/22/22" kV and a capacity of (60) MV Per unit.

The ministry added that with the start of the trial run of the pipeline, it will be the first time that Marsa Alam is connected to the national electrical grid.

It stressed that work is now in full swing to complete the work of conducting electrical current through the national network for the southeastern coast region of the Red Sea starting from AlKosair and ending with Berenice region passing by Marsa Alam.

"This requires the establishment of a 220-kV dual-circuit antenna line, with a length of 295 km and investments amounting to LE 970 million. This is in addition to installing four mobile units with a voltage of 220/22 kV, with two units being located in Marsa Alam and Berenice sites, with a capacity of (60) MFA for each unit. The total cost of these units reached LE 180 million,” the ministry clarified.

According to the statement, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company succeeded in implementing the line in record time (6 months) in accordance with the timetable prepared for the project in cooperation with major specialized companies in this field.

"The implementation of this project did not hinder the current difficult circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic, as the implementation of the project was monitored weekly with the knowledge of Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy,” it added.

For his part, Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker Mohamed Shaker stressed the importance of linking these areas with the unified electrical network for the urban, touristic and social development of these promising areas, and to reduce the current cost of delivering electric energy to these areas currently being fed by diesel generating units and high-cost gas units.

Shaker explained that the average annual cost of operation, and maintenance for these units for the current loads in Al-Kosair and Marsa Alam area (excluding the tourist villages that depend on their diesel units) is about LE 270 million annually.