Leading engineering and building group Orascom Construction said it is in talks with leading banks in the region to finance the first phase of a $5-billion coal-fired power plant in Egypt.

Last November, Orascom Construction had announced a joint venture with Abu Dhabi's state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) to build the power plant with a total capacity of 3,000-4,000 MW on Egypt's Red Sea coast.

Egypt is facing major energy shortages and has been in talks with several big investors about building coal burning plants to bolster its generation capacity.

The project is split into two phases. The first phase will provide 1,800-2,000 MW and will cost about $3 billion, while the total budget is $5 billion, Orascom Construction chief executive Osama Bishai told reporters in Dubai, UAE.

The firm is negotiating with banks to arrange the debt part of the first phase.

"We are targeting to achieve financial close if not the end of this year, the first quarter of next year," Bishai said.

"These transactions take at least 12-15 months. With this type of transaction, you're looking at somewhere like 80 (per cent) debt and 20 (per cent) equity."

The project is provisionally a 50-50 partnership with IPIC.

"We're talking to other strategic and technical investors that may come or may not," Bishai said. "Once we conclude that, the final structure will be announced."

He said the first phase would likely take 30-38 months to build, although construction could start prior to financing being finalised, while the second phase could start before the first was completed if the government approved it.

In another development, the shares in Orascom Construction soared to a new high on their Nasdaq Dubai market debut on Monday.

Orascom shares climbed 2.9 per cent to close at $14.69. The company, majority owned by Egypt's billionaire Sawiris family, will join Cairo's bourse on Tuesday or Wednesday, having de-merged from Amsterdam-listed parent firm OCI.

As part of its market debut, Orascom has issued 12.98 million new shares in Egypt, representing 11 per cent of its share capital, in an offer that was 5.1 times subscribed.

"Dubai provides our institutional and UK and US shareholders a base that is dollar denominated," Bishai said.

Orascom's customer order backlog was $5.6 billion as of September 30, of which about 43 per cent was from the US, with the reminder mostly split between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The company has since accumulated nearly $1 billion of additional orders, Bishai said.-Reuters