Sudan announced on Monday its intention to set up two power plants in the Qary Free Zone and Port Sudan, which includes the main port and free trade zone on the Red Sea coast. The two plants are 850 megawatts and will be powered by Siemens, and will be in service before summer.
Sudan has also announced the entry of the first and second units of the Sadi project in the eastern part of Atbara and East of the country, which has a production capacity of about three thousand megawatts, to the national grid. The third unit is currently under construction and will be completed by the end of this year. Observers predict that the country’s electricity production will double this year with ongoing expansions. Sudan is expected to sign an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Moscow next month to allow Khartoum to take full advantage of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, such as electricity production. Sudan has completed preliminary surveys to locate the nuclear power plant outside Khartoum.
The increase in demand for electricity in Sudan is 14 per cent per year, with an annual output of 3,000 MW. The country imports from Ethiopia 250 megawatts to meet the growing demand for electricity in the country.
Sudan is currently implementing a plan until 2031 to meet the growing demand for electricity, including the construction of dams and thermal plants with petroleum fuels and renewable energies, as well as peaceful nuclear activity. Sudan has made a number of preparations for its peaceful nuclear activity, especially with regard to nuclear safety and security. A law has been passed to control nuclear and radiological activities. Under this law, an independent national regulatory body has been established.
Sudan began five years ago to make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and agreed earlier this year with Russia’s Rosatom, a Russian government corporation for peaceful uses of atomic energy, to cooperate in this field.
