Siemens gets funds for $8.5 billion power plant project in Egypt

Germany's Siemens has received the first funding for its power plant project in Egypt, according to the company and electricity ministry. The 8 billion euro ($8.5 billion) deal,  which calls for three combined-cycle power plants with a capacity of 4,800 MW each, plus 12 wind farms, was signed in June.

This order, said to be the biggest in Siemens' history, is expected to enhance Egypt's electricity generation by 50 percent. The project is likely to start operation in 2016, with full production by April 2018.

A group of banks has agreed to supply credit for the Beni Suef natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant, the first of the three planned plants, said a Siemens spokesman. Two agreements, worth 2 billion euros, were signed by a consortium of banks led by Deutsche Bank, HSBC Germany and German government-owned development bank KfW.