Egypt's Cabinet has approved two conditional contracts with Chinese firms to produce electricity from coal-fired plants with a total capacity of over 4,000 megawatts, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker said on Wednesday. China's Dongfang Electric Corporation plans to build a plant with a capacity of 1,980 MW while Shanghai Electric Group submitted an offer to construct four plants with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW, Shaker said at a news conference, Reuters reported. Egypt has been facing a power shortage that has hampered heavy industries in recent years. Shaker said in December that his country expects to add 2,500-3,000 megawatts of electricity generating capacity this year. Falling oil and gas production coupled with rising consumption have turned Egypt from an energy exporter into a net importer. Egypt began renting two floating liquefied natural gas storage and regasification units last year that allow it to import gas for fueling power plants, and a third is expected by the end of 2016 or early 2017.
