Mohamed El-Khayat, Executive Chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), recently announced that the construction of a wind farm is about to be completed in Ras Gharib. The project is owned by Engie, Orascom Construction and Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation.
The first wind turbines are already emerging from the ground in the town of Ras Gharib, in the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. It is a park owned by the French company Engie, the Egyptian company Orascom Construction and the Japanese companies Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation. According to Mohamed El-Khayat, Executive Chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), 85% of the park’s construction has been completed. The work is expected to be fully completed in October 2019, followed by the first bulk power generation tests.
The wind farm will be commissioned before the end of 2019. Mohamed El-Khayat announced that the state-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) would purchase electricity at 3.80 Egyptian pounds per kW/h (22 cents) over a 20-year period. The wind farm will provide 250 MW.
This facility “is the first wind farm to be subject to a construction-ownership-operating contract and it perfectly illustrates the Egyptian government’s inflexible desire to strengthen the share of renewable energies in energy policy with a target of 7 GW of wind power production by 2022,” says Engie. The total cost of building this wind farm is $400 million.
The project is being financed by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), in partnership with lenders Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Société Générale. Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) will insure risks for commercial lenders. The implementation of the project by Engie, Orascom Construction and Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation also marks the beginning of the development of Ras Gharib’s wind potential. Several other independent power producers (IPPs) are currently negotiating with NREA to build wind farms. This is the case of the German company Siemens Gamesa, which wants to produce 2,000 MW with an investment of 2 billion euros.
A reference from the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy even mentions an alliance between the American company General Electric and the Danish company Vestas Wind Systems for a 4,000 MW wind project.
Jean Marie Takouleu
