Acwa Power to deliver major wind plant in Egypt
Project will save 25 million tonnes of annual emissions and provide electricity to 11 million households
Acwa Power, a developer and operator of power generation and water desalination plants worldwide, has signed an agreement with Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to construct a 10 gigawatt (GW) wind project near the city of Sohag.
The wind power plant is expected to provide the Egyptian economy with annual savings of $6.5bn in natural gas costs – as well as securing up to 120,000 job opportunities. Under the deal, NREA will allocate approximately 3,000 sq km of land.
On completion, the wind project is expected to generate around 50,000 GW-hours of clean energy annually, providing electricity to around 11 million households and mitigating the impact of 25.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
A leading player in the region’s utilities sector, Acwa Power has had a major presence in Egypt since 2015.
The company has three other facilities in Egypt, that are either in operation, under construction or in advanced development, including a 120 MW solar PV project in Benban, a 200 MW solar PV facility in Kom Ombo, and the 1.1 GW Suez Wind Energy project.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Mohamed Shaker Al Marqabi, the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, said: “Egypt has adopted an ambitious programme to advance the electricity sector in various fields, which includes maximising the utilisation of new and renewable energy resources, encouraging investment in these fields to enable energy independence from fossil fuels, continuing to reduce carbon emissions, and increasing renewable energy capacity in the energy mix up to 42% by 2035. This focus also aligns with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the National Climate Strategy 2050 with a view to mitigating the impact of climate change challenges and achieving sustainable economic growth.”
