The Minister of Electricity Dr. Mohammed Shaker, the Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Dr. Sahar Nasr and Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Mr. Dimitris Tsitsiragos signed 13 agreements worth USD 653 million to finance the construction of 13 solar power plants at Benban in Aswan with a total capacity of 590 mw. The agreements were signed in presence of Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Administrative Officer Mr. Shaolin Yang and IFC’s Country Manager for Egypt Mr. Walid Labadi.
The Minister emphasized that the agreements were among the significant agreements signed with IFC, noting that Benban solar power project was considers a part of economic reforms through which the WB supports Egypt and which aim to improve basic services for citizens. She added that such power plant would be the largest power plant in the world and would provide Egypt with clean energy and contribute to providing energy in the area.
According to Dr. Nasr, the initiative called “the Nubian Suns Feed-in-Tariff Financing Program” would provide clean and cost-effective energy for more than 300 thousand individuals and 6000 job opportunities.
The Minister commended IFC’s adoption of an innovative method to form a coalition of 9 international banks, all of which invest in the renewable energy sector for the first time. The project represent the largest financial package for generating electricity from solar power using photovoltaic cells in the Middle East and North Africa. The coalition would include the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Arab Bank Bahrain, CDC Group, the Europe Arab Bank, “Finance in Motion” Company, Finnfund, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and the Development Bank of Austria. Further, the Minister indicated that the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), one of the WBG’s members, approved the provision of USD 210 million to 12 projects, noting that this is the first investment for MIGA in a non-Asian country.
Moreover, the Minister mentioned that President of the WBG Dr. Jim Kim commended Egypt’s economic reforms, particularly in the energy sector during the WB’s annual meetings. She also called on the private sector to invest in renewable energy.
On his part, the Minister of Electricity emphasized that a central unit for the feed-in projects was established to facilitate dealings with investors and 136 coalitions and companies were rehabilitated in the first phase, besides signing an energy procurement agreement with two companies worth 100 mw. He added that the total contracted capacities reached 1565 mw under the feed-in-tariff program.
He pointed out that the agreements were signed with 13 companies to establish Photovoltaic solar plants with a total capacity of 590 mw and an amount worth USD 823 million, including USD 653 million provided by the IFC.
A long-term national energy strategy till 2035 including all energy scenarios in Egypt was developed, besides maximizing all renewable energy contributions to reach 42% in 2035 along with maximizing energy efficiency procedures, explained Dr. Shaker. He added that the infrastructure and the electricity transmission network were being strengthened to add 500 KV cables reaching more than 200 km to accommodate any additional capacities of renewable energy, in addition to supporting and developing the distribution network which would help improve the quality of services provided to citizens.
As for Mr. Tsitsiragos, he said that such agreements were considered our largest investments in Egypt so far and reflected our commitment to decrease climate change by using renewable energy and unlocking the huge economic potentials of that country.
“Reforms carried out by the Egyptian government in the energy sector opened the door for the private sector investments. As for the solar energy project, such reforms and our innovative financial instruments helped attract several investors and financers who work in the state for the first time, besides providing Egyptians with job opportunities and clean and safe energy,” he added.
He commended the role played by the Egyptian government, congratulating the Ministers of Investment and Electricity for reaping the fruits of economic reforms carried out by the government.
