ACWA Power plans 10GW wind energy project in Egypt

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Acwa Power, a leading Saudi developer, investor and operator of power generation, desalinated water and green hydrogen plants worldwide, has reached an agreement with Egyptian authorities for the development of a 10 GW project in the Arab nation that will see the utility developer produce electricity from wind energy.

The MoU has been agreed with Egypt’s New & Renewable Energy Authority and Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company, said a statement from the Saudi Ministry of Energy.

Egypt will be providing the lands necessary to carry out feasibility studies for the project ahead of the signing of the final contracts.

The initial agreement was signed in the presence of Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, who is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman in Riyadh.

The Saudi ministry said the final agreements will be dependent on feasibility studies, as well as the availability of land.

Later the two ministers followed up on the progress of the electrical interconnection between the two countries and discussed aspects of cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and hydrogen, said the statement.

The agreement comes days before the UN's Cop27 climate summit takes place in Sharm El Sheikh from November 6 to 18.

Egypt said it aims to increase its renewable energy sources to 42 % by 2035, from about 11% in 2019.

This year, the Arab nation had publicly set the goal of achieving 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035.

As part of the move, the country's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) had outlined two major projects - a 830MW solar power plant and a 1700MW wind power plant.

Besides these, Egypt has broken ground on multiple solar energy collection and generation projects including those in Kurymat and Siwa regions.

A major player in the renewable projects sector in Mena region, Acwa Power has had a major presence in Egypt. This is its fourth project in the country and its second wind farm .

TradeArabia had in June reported that an Acwa Power-led consortium with partner Hassan Allam Holding had signed an agreement to develop a 1.1GW wind project in Egypt, at an investment value of $1.5 billion.

Located in the Gulf of Suez and Gabal el Zeit area, the project is the largest single contracted wind farm in the Middle East region and one of the largest onshore wind farms in the world.

The agreement was signed at the headquarters of the Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, Cairo during HRH Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince’s state visit to Egypt.

In line with the government’s strategy to increase renewables in the country’s energy mix, Egypt now aims to boost its power-generating capacity from 43 GW to 120 GW over the next 10 years.

The company already has two solar energy projects and another wind farm project planned in Egypt.

Its three solar photovoltaic power plants in Aswan's Benban Solar Park, with a combined capacity of 120 megawatts and a total investment value of $185 million, started operations in 2019.