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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has officially greenlit comprehensive technical cooperation programme support to bolster Egypt’s renewable energy sector.
The programme, titled ‘Regulatory Support for Renewable Energy Build-Own-Operate (BOO) Projects,’ received ‘TC Com Approved’ status on 20 April, marking a critical step in the country’s transition toward a private-sector-led energy market.
The programme will support Egyptian authorities, particularly Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), with detailed technical, financial and legal advisory services for the procurement of solar, wind, storage and hybrid projects under the BOO structure.
The scope includes:
1. A large-scale solar PV project.
2. A solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) project.
3. Capacity building support.
4. A solar PV project.
5. A wind project.
6. A hybrid wind and solar PV project.
7. A standalone BESS project.
EBRD said competitive selections for business opportunities relating to this advisory programme will be published on its website, but didn’t specify a timeline.
Private capital focus
Egypt is targeting 42 percent of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030, with the private sector expected to deliver much of the new capacity.
Earlier this month, EBRD extended a $65 million construction bridging loan to Egypt’s HAU Energy (which it co-owns with Meridiam, Hassan Allam Utilities) to support the 258.5 MWp Nefer Benban hybrid solar-plus-storage project. The scheme combines 200 megawatts (MW) of solar PV with a 120 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at the existing Benban Solar Park complex in Aswan.
The 'TC Com Approved' EBRD notice suggests that Egypt is likely preparing a fresh pipeline of BOO tenders as it seeks to expand clean power generation.
Existing regulatory framework
Egypt has established a strong regulatory framework for renewables under the Renewable Energy Law (Law 203/2014, dated 21 December 2014), and two Feed-in-Tariff Decisions (Prime Ministerial Decree 1947/2014 dated 27 October 2014 (round 1) and Cabinet of Ministers Decree 2532/2016 dated 22 September 2016 (round 2).
Under the feed-in tariff programme, projects of up to 50 MW were supported, covering:
·2,000 MW of wind capacity
·2,000 MW of solar capacity
·300 MW of small-scale solar facilities
Another mechanism was competitive tenders for large-scale BOO projects relying on private finance.
The solar component of the feed-in tariff scheme attracted significant interest from the private sector, with EBRD financing 750 MW of capacity across 16 projects.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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