Sudan partners with Russia on hydropower
Sudan has signed an agreement with the Russian firm Power Machines to upgrade national hydropower infrastructure, the African nation’s energy and oil minister said on Tuesday, during his official visit to Russia.
Mohi-Eddin Naeem Mohamed Saeed said that under the deal, the Russian engineering company will supply new turbines for the Merowe hydroelectric power plant in northern Sudan and modernize several other key facilities.
The Sudanese minister arrived in Moscow on November 13 and met with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev to discuss joint energy projects. Speaking to RIA Novosti, the official said the new agreement will help boost hydropower production across Sudan.
“In the field of electricity, we reached an agreement with the Russian company Power Machines on the supply of turbines to the hydroelectric plant in Merowe, to increase hydropower production in Sudan,” Mohi-Eddin Naeem Mohamed Saeed explained.
Under the agreement the Russian firm will also modernize other facilities, including hydroelectric plants in Roseires, Sennar, and Setit. “Hydropower is 70% of the electricity production in Sudan,” the minister noted.
Russia is also involved in developing electric power infrastructure for Sudan’s northern neighbor, Egypt.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Kamal Madbouly recently announced the successful installation of a key safety component—a “melt trap”—at the fourth and final unit of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant. The project, located in the north of the country, is being built in collaboration with Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Speaking on Nuclear Energy Day, Madbouly hailed the milestone as a historic achievement for Cairo.
“The current global energy crisis confirms Egypt’s right choice to embrace renewable energy sources. The El Dabaa nuclear power plant project is the foundation for realizing the long-term development goals of the Egyptian state,” he said.
The construction of a fourth reactor at El Dabaa began in January. Initiated in 2017, the project is financed jointly by Moscow and Cairo, and Rosatom will supply nuclear fuel to the facility throughout its life cycle. For the first ten years, Russia will also assist in training personnel and managing the plant.
In October, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi described Egypt’s partnership with Russia as “strategic” during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan.
