CAIRO, Jan. 10 (Aswat Masriya) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a presidential decree approving a deal enabling Egypt to receive EUR 40 million line of credit from Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) for the establishment of a power plant, state-run MENA reported on Sunday.

The deal was signed in Cairo last July. The plant will run at a capacity of 20 megawatts and will be located in Kom Umbu, south of Egypt

The power plant is owned by the New and Renewable Energy Authority, which will also manage it. The plant will be linked to the national network run by the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company, as per a previous agreement between the authority and the company.

Egypt has been facing an energy crisis for years, with power outages surging in the increasingly hot summers. Egyptian authorities have often attributed the power cuts to a larger fuel crisis and have been taking measures in recent months to diversify sources of energy.

Egypt signed a deal with Russia last November for the establishment of Dabaa nuclear power plant where it is set to generate electricity from the first unit of the plant in 2024, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail previously said.

Moscow will finance the construction, with repayment made through a share of revenues over a 35-year period.