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Saudi Developer Signs Photovoltaic Project Agreement with Egypt

April 7, 2021
ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabian developer, investor and operator of power generation and desalinated water plants in 13 markets, has finalized the project agreements for the 200 MW Kom Ombo PV plant in Egypt.

ACWA Power, a Saudi Arabian developer, investor and operator of power generation and desalinated water plants in 13 markets, has finalized the project agreements for the 200 MW Kom Ombo PV plant in Egypt.

The signing of the 25-year power purchase agreement, network connection contract and usufruct agreement was conducted via a virtual ceremony held with senior government officials and representatives from the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC); The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and ACWA Power.

The agreements were signed by Eng. Sabah Mashaly, Chairman of EETC; Dr. Mohamed Al-KHayat, Chairman of NREA; Rajit Nanda, Chief Portfolio Management Officer and acting CIO of ACWA Power; and Eng. Hassan Amin, Country Development Director- Egypt, ACWA Power.

“Egypt is home to a wide range of untapped renewable resources particularly, wind and solar energy. The electrical capacities that can be generated from renewable sources can reach up to nearly 90 GW. In line with Egypt’s Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy, our aim is to produce 42% of Egypt’s electricity using renewable sources by 2035. Currently necessary studies are being conducted to increase this percentage, stressing on maximizing the utilization of renewable energy in many areas, including water desalination and green hydrogen production,” said H.E. Dr. Mohamed Shaker El Markabi, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy.

Financial closure of Kom Ombo PV is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021, following the obtainment of a USD 40 million senior debt financing and a $14 million equity bridge loan from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in addition to a $27.2 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance the construction, development and design of the 200 MW solar PV project.

The government guarantee for the project was signed in January 2021 between ACWA Power and Mohamed Maait, Egypt’s Minister of Finance. Kom Ombo PV is part of ACWA Power’s established energy portfolio in Egypt, which currently includes three solar PV projects located in the Aswan province (Benban 1, Benban 2 and Benban 3) with an aggregate capacity of 120 MW, as well as the 2,250 MW Dairut-Luxor CCGT IPP in the Luxor Governorate.

Construction of the plant is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2021 and upon completion, Kom Ombo PV will cater to the power needs of 130,000 households and offset 336,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Kom Ombo PV will be one of the largest privately developed utility scale solar plants in Egypt and will support the country in increasing its renewable energy capacity in line with the national targets to generate 22% of Egypt’s power from renewables by 2022 and 42% by 2035.

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