Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli attended the signing ceremony of two agreements on establishing a 500MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez area.
The deal was signed late on Wednesday by the Electricity Ministry and a consortium comprising Orascom, France’s Engie and Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation in the presence of Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker, Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Masaki Noke and France’s deputy ambassador to Egypt.
Shaker referred to efforts exerted by the ministry in co-operation with the private sector to carry out power projects based on renewable energy sources.
The efforts come as part of the ministry’s strategy to produce 42 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2035, he said.
In October, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) agreed with the Red Sea Wind Energy Company to set up a wind farm in the Gulf of Suez area under a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) system, a form of Public Private Partnership (PPP), to produce 500 megawatts of electricity from wind energy.
The EETC will buy the electricity produced from the project, Shaker said.
The total investment cost of the project is estimated at 600 million dollars and it is expected to become operational in 2024, the minister said.
He added that the project is expected to provide 1,100 direct jobs in addition to many other indirect jobs related to supplies and services.
