Page 14 - AfrElec Week 08 2022

AfrElec RENEWABLERS AfrElec

ACWA Power in talks to

build 250-MW wind farm

in Gulf of Suez

EGYPT SAUDI water and electricity utilities operator households. It will and reduce carbon emissions
ACWA Power is in advanced talks with the Sov- by approximately 280,000 tonnes per year (tpy).
ereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) to build a 250-MW ACWA Power has completed the operation of
wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, Al Borsa newspa- three solar power plants under the solar energy
per reported. The SFE would reportedly own a tariff program in Benban, Aswan Governorate,
minority stake in the project. and is competing for a series of tenders to estab-
ACWA Power has a significant presence in lish solar power plants.
Egypt, including through its 200-MW Kom The Kom Ombo plant will contribute to the
Ombo solar power plant, which in April 2021 Egyptian government’s target to generate 42% of
obtained $114mn in backing from a consortium the country’s electricity from renewable energy
of international lenders led by the European sources by 2035 while delivering one of the low-
Bank for Reconstruction and Development est generation tariffs on the continent.
(EBRD). ACWA has reportedly expressed interest in
The EBRD, the OPEC Fund for International Egypt’s investment in desalination infrastruc-
Development (the OPEC Fund), the African ture.However, ACWA said in September 2021
Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate that it wanted to postpone the Kom Ombo pro-
Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank are all involved. ject because of the high cost of transport and the
The company has minority stakes in three prices of solar cells.ACWA Power has agreed a
plants in Benban and an upcoming project with price of $0.0248 per kWh for the project’s output,
the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company which is the lowest price contracted by EETC.
to convert an electricity plant in Luxor to renew- The contract for the construction and devel-
able energy. opment of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants is part
The new Kom Ombo plant will be located of the government’s plan to produce 20% of the
less than 20 km from Africa’s biggest solar park, total energy produced on the electricity grid
the 1.8-GW Benban complex. Once operational, from renewable sources by 2022.™
the new utility-scale plant will serve 130,000

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 24•February•2022