ACWA Power and TSFE will explore a joint investment to create a 1.1 GW wind energy project in the Gulf of Suez.
ACWA Power, a leading Saudi developer, investor and operator of power generation, water desalination and green hydrogen plants, has signed an MoU with The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) to explore a 1.1 GW wind energy project in the Gulf of Suez region of Egypt. The agreement was signed on the fringes of COP27 by Karim Badr Chief Executive Officer, TSFE Infrastructure and Utilities Subfund, Yasir Mahmoud, Executive Vice President – Business Development, ACWA Power and Hassan Amin, Country Director- Egypt, ACWA Power.
ACWA Power and its co-investors
ACWA Power and TSFE will now discuss the details around TSFE’s Infrastructure and Utilities Subfund owning up to 10% of the project. Project investors include Hassan Allam Holdings, an Egyptian engineering, construction and infrastructure company (25% stake) and ACWA Power. The Oman Investment Authority, Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, recently signed a similar agreement with ACWA Power to hold up to 10% of the facility.
The 1.1 GW project will provide energy to over a million households and displace 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually by 2026, according to the company.
“Ambitious energy diversification plans”
“As the Government of Egypt’s ambitious energy diversification plans continue to gain momentum, it is assuring to see key investors from the Arab World join hands to support the development of clean energy projects in the country. This tangible endorsement signifies that Arab investors are looking firmly towards implementing sustainable solutions that benefit communities while ensuring global climate action pledges,” said Mohammad Abunayyan, Chairman of ACWA Power. “We are proud that regional and global project finance organizations continue to place strong confidence in our ability to deliver giga scale renewable projects that are delivering impact and value across the world.”
Karim Badr, CEO of TSFE’s Infrastructure and Utilities Subfund said: “This is another significant manifestation to our strategy to continue to invest into renewable power generation to decarbonize Egypt’s energy sector and capitalize on green energy sources in the country. It shows our commitment to transition from pledges to implementation in collaboration with private-sector pioneers. We have strong confidence in our partner’s ability to deliver such large-scale projects, building on their expertise in the renewable energy field and their presence in the Egyptian market.”
ACWA Power in Africa
ACWA Power has been present in Egypt since 2015 and has developed a series of projects, including a 120 MW PV project in Benban, and a 200 MW PV facility in Kom Ombo, along with Suez Wind Energy, which will be the largest single contracted wind farm, and largest wind related public private partnership in Africa to date. The company has also signed an MoU with Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) to develop another 10 GW wind project that will be developed in stages.
Across Africa, the company has a number of projects in development and in operation with five renewable energy projects in Morocco and three in South Africa.