Egypt signs green energy deal with Saudi ACWA

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CAIRO: The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co. will this month sign a deal to purchase wind energy of 1,100 megawatts from Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power.

Sources at the EETC said that the project would cost over $1.2 billion and would be implemented in stages.

According to the sources, the EETC will pay 2.85 cents per kilowatt-hour. The Egyptian Cabinet had agreed to proceed with talks for the Saudi company to replace the Hanadi village, Luxor governorate project that has a current total capacity of 2,250 megawatts.

The initiative would operate under a build, own and operate system, to produce electric power from renewable sources.

ACWA Power would purchase the land for the implementation of the project from the New and Renewable Energy Authority under the usufruct system for wind-power plants. This has to be approved by the Egyptian Finance Ministry.

The sources indicated that ACWA Power has sought to expand its renewable-energy business in Egypt with hydrogen production and water desalination projects.

The Egyptian government aims to increase the power produced from renewable energy projects on the electricity grid to 42 percent by 2035, from the current 20 percent.

ACWA Power has completed three solar power plants as part of Egypt’s Solar Energy Feed Tariff Program in Benban, Aswan governorate, and is competing for several other such projects.