The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) is busy carrying out a grid upgrading and transformation project in Egypt, the Guangming Daily reports.
The SGCC and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy of Egypt signed the general contract on the EETC 500 kV Transmission Line Project in January 2016, making it the largest transformation line project in Egyptian history.
The project involves a 1,285 km transmission line connecting five power plants and 10 transformer substations, with a total investment of US$758 million.
The project, the first successful contracted project on bilateral capacity cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, is expected to play an important role in helping Egypt solve its power shortage problem.
Liu Guanghui, general manager of the SGCC's branch in Egypt, said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was deeply impressed by the speed and efficiency of China's manufacturing industries during his first visit to China in December 2014, thus being willing to cooperate in grid planning, construction, upgrading and management.
According to Liu, the project created about US$600 million worth of exports of Chinese electromechanical products, while nearly 2,000 Chinese workers went to work in Egypt.