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El Gouna, the Red Sea town developed by Orascom Development, launched its first outsourced desalination facility and expanded its solar energy operations
El Gouna by Orsacom Development said in a statement that the reverse osmosis desalination plant was developed in partnership with DesalEgypt and Jeddah-based Energya Industries ElSewedy Helal at a cost of 66 million Egyptian pounds ($1.31 million). It said the plant has an initial capacity of 2,500 cubic metres per day (m³/day), which can be expanded to more than 11,500 m³/day in future phases, adding that the facility increases the town’s water production capacity from 14,000 m³/day to 16,500 m³/day.
SolarizEgypt—DesalEgypt’s sister company—has signed a 25-year agreement with Orascom Development to expand the capacity of their existing joint photovoltaic (PV) plant to 15.8 megawatts (MW), marking the largest private-sector joint venture of its kind in Egypt.
Yassin Abdel Ghaffar, CEO, Solarize told Zawya Projects that the 7.25MW first phase started commercial operations three years ago while the 9.25MW second phase is currently in the testing and commissioning phase.
"We will announce the commercial operation date in the coming days," he said, adding that the two phases will increase the total capacity of the solar power plant to 15.8MW.
He disclosed that the contract for Phase 3 was originally planned at around 5 MW. However, with the desalination project now operational and new projects like Fanadir Shores coming up, baseline electricity consumption will increase.
"We're currently studying how much of this increase allows us to grow our solar project," he said.
El Gouna, which spans an area of 36.9 million square metres, encompasses 9,200 delivered residential units housing a population of 25,000, 18 hotels with 2,800 rooms as well as educational, retail, healthcare, marinas, golf courses, conference facilities.
The new desalination and solar projects are part of Orascom Development’s broader ESG strategy and align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to clean water access and affordable clean energy, the statement noted.
In February 2024, Orascom Development had signed an agreement with SolarizEgypt to expand their existing 7.2 MW capacity solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in El Gouna City.
(1 US Dollar = 50.50 Egyptian Pounds)
(Writing by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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