Egypt has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia's ACWA Electric Power Company to build a power plant in southern Egypt with an investment of $2.3 billion, Egypt reported today.

Egypt and Saudi ACWA power sign power plant agreement

It is understood that the capacity of the plant is 2250 MW and will be built in southern Luxor province. The facility will be put into operation in 2023.

As early as July this year, Egypt's president announced the opening of three new power plants, costing 6 billion euros ($7 billion), as part of the country's plan to fill the power generation gap and promote its development.

Egypt's sharp shortage of power after 2011 led to frequent blackouts and industrial output in summer. The new project, launched in 2015, is part of an 8 billion euro agreement to increase power generation by 50% through new natural gas and wind power plants.