- The Red Sea Wind Energy Consortium has achieved financial close, a significant milestone on the new 500 MW Gulf of Suez Wind Farm near Ras Ghareb, Egypt.
- The wind farm will be built, owned and operated by Red Sea Wind Energy S.A.E., which is owned by a Consortium of ENGIE (35%), Orascom Construction (25%), Toyota Tsusho Corporation (20%) and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation (20%).
- Orascom Construction will execute the construction of the civil and electrical works of the wind farm.
The consortium will operate and maintain the wind farm under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), the plant will be connected to the grid over two phases with full commercial operation planned in Q3 2025. EETC’s obligations under the PPA are backed by Egypt’s Ministry of Finance.
The project will be capable of delivering clean power to more than 800,000 Egyptian homes. The project also helps accelerate Egypt’s transition to renewable power generation and will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 1 million tons annually. The project falls under the energy pillar of the Nexus of Water-Food-Energy (NWFE) program, an initiative the Government of Egypt presented at COP 27 in November 2022 that is expected to contribute toward the energy transition.
Non-recourse project financing is provided by the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) in coordination with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the Norinchukin Bank, and Société Générale S.A. under a Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) cover, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). HSBC Bank Egypt S.A.E. is acting as working capital bank and Onshore Security Agent.
This new 500 MW wind farm project builds on the past success achieved by the consortium in developing Egypt’s first renewable energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) project of its kind and size (completed in October 2019 ahead of schedule), and tripples the developer consortium’s wind energy capacity in Egypt to 762.5 MW.
This project marks the first co-financing between JBIC and the EBRD since the signing of an MOU in October 2022 to fortify cooperation between the two organizations, and the first joint project between NEXI and the EBRD since the signing of an MOU in October 2020.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
