Egypt places fuel order for El-Dabaa nuclear plant

21 November 2025

Egypt’s government has signed a nuclear fuel purchase order for the first unit of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant, which is expected to be operational in 2026.

The fuel order was signed with Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom).

The signing ceremony was attended by Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli. It included senior officials from Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity & Renewable Energy and the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA).

The agreement coincided with the installation of the VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactor pressure vessel for the project’s first unit.

The El-Dabaa nuclear power plant will have four units, each capable of generating 1,200MW of electricity. The VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactor model has been selected for all four units.

Egypt and Russia signed the initial inter-governmental agreement for the North African state’s first nuclear facility in November 2015.

Rosatom, the project’s main contractor, announced that it started the production of electrical components in Saint Petersburg for a reactor vessel for the plant in June 2022.

The two countries also agreed on broader cooperation covering nuclear technology, medical radioisotopes, technical applications such as 3D printing, and communications.

El-Dabaa project status

In September 2023, the Egyptian Nuclear & Radiological Regulation Authority (ENRRA) granted a construction permit for the plant’s fourth reactor. ENRRA granted the construction permit for unit three in March that year and units one and two in June 2022 and October 2022, respectively.

In November 2022, South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility signed a contract valued at $1.2bn with state-owned South Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco), for the project.

Rosatom subsidiary ASE earlier appointed KHNP as the single supplier for constructing the turbine islands.

The simultaneous installation of the reactor pressure vessel and fuel order indicates that Unit 1 has transitioned from civil construction into the core mechanical and systems-installation phase.

The latest advancements align with Egypt’s annual Nuclear Energy Day, observed on 19 November to mark the 2015 agreement that initiated the El-Dabaa project.

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Mark Dowdall
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