- Two major players on the Egyptian energy scene have secured land for the deployment of 8 GW of wind power.
- Scatec has secured land capacity for 5GW while Engie has 3GW.
- Both projects are located in the western governorate of Sohag.
Egypt is preparing to become one of Africa’s leaders in wind energy. To achieve this, Cairo will be relying primarily on private investment. As part of this strategy, the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) has just granted land for two projects led by private companies.
The signing ceremony took place recently in the presence of Mohamed Shaker, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and Hilde Klemetsdal, Norway’s Ambassador to Egypt. Together with Scatec, NREA Chairman Mohamed El-Khayat signed the land permit for the development of 5 GW of wind power generation capacity. Egypt’s flagship Orascam Construction has signed a contract for 3 GW of wind power, which it will develop as part of a consortium that also includes French energy company Engie and Japan’s Eurus Energy.
These two projects could inject a combined capacity of 8 GW into the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) grid. According to NREA, the two projects, which represent an investment of $9 billion, will also offset the emissions of 17 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. The first memorandums of understanding for the development of these major projects were signed at COP27, which Egypt hosted in 2022.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
