The project being built by Rosatom will generate enough power to strengthen the African country's energy security, the Russian president has said

Moscow will continue to provide support to Egypt at all key stages of building the country's first nuclear power plant, including long-term reactor fuel supplies and technical maintenance of the facility, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged.

The reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 at the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on Egypt's Mediterranean coast was installed during a ceremony on Wednesday. The project is being built by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom under a 2015 agreement with Cairo. The plant will comprise four VVER-1200 power units with a total capacity of 4,800 MW.

Speaking by video link to participants at the event, including International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, Putin said work on the plant is "progressing confidently and successfully" and that the project has entered a "crucial stage." 

According to a transcript of his speech on the Kremlin website, Putin said Rosatom's "Generation III reactors will produce up to 37 billion kWh a year, generating approximately 10% of electricity" to strengthen Egypt's energy security.

He called El Dabaa a "flagship project in the field of the peaceful atom" and praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for his "personal initiative and support." He noted that Soviet and Russian engineers had previously helped build major projects such as the Aswan High Dam and industrial plants in the African country.

"We fully... remain committed to a comprehensive strengthening and deepening of our partnership with friendly Egypt," he said.

Moscow has already trained more than 100 Egyptian nuclear specialists at Russian universities, Putin said, adding that Rosatom is ready to share technologies for small modular reactors and for using nuclear energy in medicine and agriculture.

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In September, Egypt's Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mahmoud Esmat told RIA Novosti that construction work on the project is expected to be completed by 2029.

On Wednesday, President Sisi hailed the "long-standing" and "fruitful" cooperation between Cairo and Moscow, saying the El Dabaa NPP "positions Egypt as a leading state in the peaceful use of nuclear energy."