Egypt has secured $275 million in financing for the construction and operation of Africa’s largest wind farm, the Suez Wind Project, located in the Gulf of Suez.
The funding was announced on Thursday in Cairo by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The financing includes $200 million from the EBRD, with additional contributions of $75 million from Arab Bank and Standard Chartered.
The project is also co-financed by major development institutions, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), British International Investment (BII), Germany’s Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).
Key features and impact of the project
With an installed capacity of 1.1 gigawatts (GW), the wind farm is poised to become a cornerstone in Egypt’s transition to renewable energy.
According to report, the project is expected to generate over 4,300 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually and offset more than 2.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.
Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, noted that funding has so far been secured for projects with a combined capacity of 4.7 GW under the government’s renewable energy drive.
Al-Mashat said this aligns with Cairo’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and supports the country’s ambition to decarbonise its energy sector.
“We are working collaboratively to meet the program’s targets to reduce Egypt’s fuel consumption and expand clean energy projects,” Al-Mashat said.
More insights
The Suez Wind Project is being developed under Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food & Energy (NWFE) program, which aims to transition the country to cleaner energy sources.
Unveiled at COP27 in 2022, the NWFE program targets the development of 10 GW of renewable energy projects to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The project is owned by Suez Wind, a special-purpose vehicle established by Saudi-listed ACWA Power, alongside HAU Energy, a renewable energy platform co-created by EBRD, Hassan Allam Utilities, and Meridiam Africa Investments.
The EBRD, a key player in Egypt’s renewable energy transition, has invested €13.3 billion ($13.8 billion) across 194 projects in Egypt, positioning the country as a regional leader in clean energy development.
