The solar plants will generate 752MW of power and contribute to the country’s efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The initiative, ‘Nubian Suns Feed-in-Tariff Financing Program’, is expected to provide electricity to more than 350,000 residential customers.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is leading a consortium of nine international banks, comprising Africa Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Arab Bank of Bahrain, CDC of the UK, Europe Arab Bank, Finance in Motion, FinnFund, ICBC, and OeEB of Austria, which are investing in Egypt’s renewable energy sector for the first time.
Six groups of private power companies will jointly build and operate the 13 plants.
This will be the largest private sector financing package for a solar facility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
After completion, the Benban Solar Park will include 32 power plants and is expected to be the largest solar installation in the world.
The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group will provide $210m in political risk insurance to 12 projects within Benban.
Egypt has set a goal of generating 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022, of which the Feed-in-Tariff program is a major initiative that makes use of private sector capital and expertise.
IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou said: “Egypt’s reforms in its energy sector opened the door to private sector investments. For the Benban Solar Park project, those reforms and our innovative financial tools have helped attract a number of investors and financiers into the country for the first time.”
Image: After completion, the Benban Solar Park will include 32 power plants. Photo: Courtesy of Naypong/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
