French electric utility company Engie and its consortium of partners have inaugurated the 262.5MW Ras Ghareb wind farm in Egypt.
The wind farm is claimed to be the first private and largest wind farm in Egypt.
Engie said that the project has begun commercial operation in October this year, which is 6 weeks ahead of the schedule.
The project is claimed to be the first wind farm tendered on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) scheme in Egypt and is part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix with a target wind generation capacity of 7GW by 2022.
ENGIE executive vice president Shankar Krishnamoorthy said: “Ras Ghareb wind farm illustrates our ambitious development strategy, aimed to accelerate the zero carbon transition of our clients.
We are proud to contribute to the greening of Egypt’s energy mix and we are ready to further work with our partners towards the renewables’ objectives of the country.”
The project was developed by Ras Ghareb Wind Energy SAE owned by Engie, and its consortium partners Toyota-Tsusho / Eurus Energy and Orascom Construction. Total investment cost of the project is around $380m.
Further, the electric utility company has set a target to develop 9GW of additional renewable capacity worldwide by 2021, and aims to invest about €2.5bn in the sector.
Renvico has 142 MW of onshore wind capacity in Italy and 187 MW in France
Separately, the French electric utility company has acquired a wind farm management company, Renvico from Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA).
Subjected to approvals from Antitrust and Foreign Investment, Renvico has 329 MW of operating onshore wind farm capacity, of which 142 MW in Italy and 187 MW in France, along with 300MW of projects under development.
ENGIE Renewable Energy executive vice president Gwenaëlle Avice-Huet said: “This acquisition will contribute to ENGIE’s growth ambitions, adding 9 GW worldwide by 2021, of which 3 GW in Europe.
“ENGIE already supplies 100% green electricity for 2,9 million clients in France and 1 million clients in Italy. It’s a corner stone of our ambition to accelerate the zero carbon transition of our clients.”
In October this year, the electric utility company selected Global Energy Services (GES) to construct two renewable energy projects in Chile with a total generating capacity of 259MW.
