Under a feed-in-tariff programme, the government is trying to bring in private investment in over 4GW of wind and solar power. The framework approved by its board of directors of EBRD will finance renewable energy projects under the programme.
The EBRD board has also approved 13 projects that come under the same framework. Three more projects are expected to be approved by the board later this month.
Put together, the 16 plants will generate 750MW of solar photovoltaic capacity. They are expected to cut down carbon dioxide emissions by 900,000 tonnes annually.
EBRD director, Power and Energy head Harry Boyd-Carpenter said: “We have been working with the Egyptian authorities since 2014 to help them fulfill their ambitious goals in this area. We are delighted now to be in a position to commit very significant financing to projects, which we expect to start construction before the end of 2017.
“This progress is really a tribute to the Egyptian government’s sustained commitment to making the best use of their abundant solar and wind resources to move to a more diverse and sustainable energy sector.”
All the solar plants will be built on a single large site in Upper Egypt near Benban and are anticipated to bring in considerable investment to the region. Particularly, the construction activities relating to the solar projects are likely to give short-term boost to the local economy.
According to EBRD, the plants will be the first private utility-scale renewable projects to come up in an area which has traditionally been dominated by hydrocarbons usage.
Image: EBRD helps Egyptian renewable energy projects with $500m loan. Photo: courtesy of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
