BERLIN
Germany’s technology giant Siemens has signed 8 billion euro worth energy contracts Wednesday to build natural gas and wind power plants in Egypt.
The single biggest order in the history of Siemens was signed at a ceremony in Berlin, during Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s official visit.
El-Sisi and German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel joined the signing ceremony at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
"With these unprecedented contracts, Siemens and its partners are supporting Egypt's economic development by using highly efficient natural gas and renewable technologies to create an affordable, reliable and sustainable energy mix for the country's future," said Joe Kaeser, president of Siemens, at the ceremony.
Siemens and its Egyptian partners Elsewedy Electric and Orascom Construction are planning to build three natural gas power plants, 12 wind farms and a rotor blade manufacturing facility in Egypt.
The projects will add an additional 16.4 gigawatts (GW) to Egypt's national grid, according to a written statement by Siemens.
The record energy orders added to the controversy over Egyptian President el-Sisi’s two-day official visit to Berlin.
His visit drew widespread criticism among politicians and intellectuals in Germany because of the human rights violations of the regime in Egypt.
The German government has dismissed calls by opposition parties to cancel the visit and argued that high-level talks with el-Sisi will provide an opportunity to discuss the human rights situation in Egypt.
German Parliament President Norbert Lammert turned down a meeting with el-Sisi, criticizing undemocratic practices, human rights violations and death sentences on Egypt’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi and more than 100 of his Muslim Brotherhood supporters.
Egypt’s first democratically elected President Morsi was ousted in mid-2013 by the Egyptian army, which was headed at the time by el-Sisi.
