Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has approved an agreement on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy with Saudi Arabia, official state news agency MENA reported.
The agreement, which was initially signed in April 2016 during a visit to Cairo by Saudi King Salman, involves cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear power, nuclear security and an exchange of information on nuclear safety.
Egypt s government is moving ahead with plans to build the country s first nuclear power plant, expected to be completed in 2022 and operational by 2024.
The plant, located in Dabaa in the coastal governorate of Marsa Matrouh, will eventually generate a total of 4,800 megawatts through four reactors.
In May 2016, President El-Sisi approved a $25 billion loan from Russia to fund the building and operation of the plant.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are already working on connecting their power grids through a $1.6 billion deal, approved by Egypt s cabinet in January 2015, where they would share 3,000 megawatts of electricity by 2017.
