EGYPT – Amarenco, an independent producer of green energy, has agreed to buy a 74% stake in the portfolio of Cairo-based solar company SolarizEgypt and jointly develop 300 MW of assets in the next four years.
The joint venture between the two parties is referred to as SolarizEgypt | Amarenco & Co.
The venture has a planned budget of EGP 4 billion (USD 254.6million) to finance the realization of the 300MW scheme.
“This partnership represents a milestone for the renewable sector and is a strong vote of confidence for FDI in Egypt.” Yaseen Abdel-Ghaffar-Founder of Solarize Egypt.
This acquisition and partnership will leverage both companies’ strong knowledge and expertise to provide the best-in-class services to the Egyptian energy sector.
The new Joint-Venture will invest in developing Solar Energy projects in Egypt and will clients with a clean source of electricity at a discounted rate, which will help them be more competitive and reduce their carbon footprint.
“The Egyptian energy market is one of the largest markets in Africa and the MENA region with ambitious targets for a transition towards renewables and decarbonization,” said Amarenco’s chief executive for the Middle East & North Africa Yazan Faouri.
The acquisition comes at a time when Egypt is working on increasing the supply of electricity generated from renewable sources to 20% by 2022 and 42% by 2035.
By the end of 2035, Egypt anticipates having wind providing 14 percent of its energy needs, hydropower 1.98 percent, photovoltaic (PV) 21.3 percent, and concentrating solar power (CSP) 5.52 percent.
This plan is currently being revised and waiting for the approval of the supreme council for energy to reflect 33 percent of the energy generated from renewable energy by 2025, 48 percent by 2030, 55 percent by 2035, and 61 percent by 2040.
SolarizEgypt has been active on the home market for eight years and has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for over 50 MW.
SolarizEgypt’s Holdco has positioned itself as a utility platform with additional business lines and subsidiaries in water desalination, waste management, and residential solar.
Based in Cork, Ireland, Amarenco develops, finances, builds and operates medium to large-scale solar photovoltaic plants in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
The company has already invested over US$567.2 million in the development of solar plants and completed more than 2,000 projects.
This is believed to be a very optimistic plan. The private sector is expected to deliver most of this capacity.
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