A new solar park has been connected in the Benban complex, located in the Aswan Governorate in southeast Egypt. It is owned by Scatec Solar, an independent power producer (IPP) based in Norway. It is the third solar park with a capacity of 65 MW and is thus commissioning it as part of the Egyptian government’s mega solar project.
Like the previous one, this new solar photovoltaic power plant is made up of two-sided solar panels, i.e. both sides of the solar panels capture the sun’s rays and transform them into electricity. Scatec Solar believes that this type of solar panel optimises the production of its new photovoltaic solar park.
Scatec Solar, which employs nearly 250 people worldwide, ensures that the new plant connected to Benban will provide clean energy to 420,000 households and will also avoid emissions of 350,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Scatec Solar jointly developed this project with several partners: the insurance company Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP), Norfund, the Norwegian government’s investment fund, and Africa50, the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) electricity infrastructure investment fund. It is a project with an investment of NOK 500 million (more than €51 million), implemented by the three partners, who commissioned their second 65 MW solar park in the Benban complex over a week ago.
An expected capacity of 400 MW
The 195 MW that the three partners produce globally is sold to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), according to a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The consortium will produce a total of 400 MW at the Benban complex.
The Egyptian authorities estimate that Benban will be fully connected to the grid by the end of 2019. At that time, the complex will consist of 41 solar parks for a total production of 1.65 GW. Built about 650 km south of Cairo, in the governorate of Aswan, the Benban solar park will produce the equivalent of 90% of the energy currently produced by the Aswan dam (2,100 MW). Presented as one of the most important power generation infrastructures in Egypt, the Benban complex will help to achieve the Egyptian authorities’ ambition to ensure that the country consumes 20% of clean energy by 2022.
Jean Marie Takouleu