EGYPT- Ras Gharab Wind Energy, one of the leading private power firms in Egypt has announced that the construction and commissioning of the 262.5 MW Ras Ghareb wind farm in Egypt is complete 45 days ahead of schedule.
According to a statement distributed by APO, the wind farm is now fully connected to the grid and is ready for commercial operation at maximum capacity.
Ras Ghareb Wind Energy SAE is owned by ENGIE (40%) and its consortium partners Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation (40%) and Orascom Construction (20%).
Yoven Moorooven, CEO of ENGIE Africa commented : “ENGIE’s clean energy solutions are based on competitiveness, reliability and safety.”
The wind farm whose total investment is about US$380 million is located near Ras Ghareb on the Gulf of SUEZ, an optimal site with about 60% of gross capacity factor.
“Ras Ghareb Wind Energy has been developed with a continuous focus on Health and Safety and is completely in line with ENGIE’s ambition in the zero-carbon transition,” said Moorooven.
Moorooven further added that they are committed to apply the same standards with the same success for the adjacent 500 MW wind farm that is being developed by this consortium.”
The statement released by ENGIE Africa revealed that the energy from the wind farm is sold under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).
Ras Ghareb Wind Energy is the first wind farm tendered on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) scheme and is part of the Egyptian government’s drive to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix with a target wind generation capacity of 7 GW by 2022.
The consortium arranged non-recourse project financing from The Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) in coordination with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Société Générale under a Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) cover.
Commercial International Bank (CIB) Egypt is acting as working capital bank and Attijariwafa Bank provided an equity bridge loan for Orascom Construction.
ENGIE Africa which is the lead stakeholder in these projects has global references in areas such as facility management, gas distribution, cold networks or green mobility, and is keen to develop its service activities and energy solutions for smart cities in Egypt.
The company has also set a target of developing 9 GW of additional renewable capacity by 2021 and intends to invest approximately US$2.79 billion (€2.5 billion) in the sector.
