UAE’s AMEA Power secures funding for renewable energy projects in Egypt

The company plans to raise its output to 5 gigawatts over the next three years

A worker cleans solar cells on the rooftop of a hotel in Sharm El Sheikh. Reuters

Dubai-based AMEA Power said it has secured funding to develop a solar plant and a wind farm in Egypt.

The projects, which represent a $1.1 billion investment in the north African country’s economy, have power purchase agreements in place with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and usufruct agreements with the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), an Egyptian government body, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The company is leading the development of renewable energy across Africa, which through its global and regional partnerships, will deliver clean energy to millions of people around the continent,” said Hussain Al Nowais, chairman of AMEA Power.

The Dubai-based company is developing a 500-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Egypt’s Aswan governorate.

The project is being financed by the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank arm that focuses on the private sector, Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank and the Japan International Co-operation Agency, AMEA Power said.

The wind farm, which is also expected to have a capacity of 500 megawatts, will be in the Red Sea region and is being developed in partnership with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, which will own 40 per cent equity in the project.

Financing is being provided by a consortium of banks, including Japan Bank for International Co-operation and IFC, the company said.

“These projects highlight the private sector’s essential role in helping to deliver clean, affordable power, especially at a time of growing challenges from climate change and pressures on the environment,” Cheick-Oumar Sylla, IFC regional director for North Africa and Horn of Africa, said.

“Egypt has ambitious renewable energy goals and we are proud to support AMEA’s expansion into Africa as well as its partnership with Egypt to accelerate the country’s renewable energy transition.”

AMEA Power, which currently produces about 2 gigawatts of clean energy through solar and wind energy plants in 15 countries, plans to raise its output to 5 gigawatts in the next three years. It is also building a 100-megawatt solar plant in Tunisia.

Egypt, one of Africa’s largest economies, aims to increase its renewable energy sources to 42 per cent by 2035, from about 11 per cent in 2019.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power signed an initial agreement to build a 10-gigawatt wind farm in the country, which could be the world's second-largest wind farm.

Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone signed $83 billion worth of green energy deals and nine agreements at the UN climate summit Cop27. The facilities would collectively produce up to 7.6 million tonnes of green ammonia and 2.7 million tonnes of hydrogen annually.

Hydrogen, which is produced from both renewable energy and natural gas, is expected to become a critical fuel as economies and industries transition to a low-carbon world.

It comes in various forms, including blue, green and grey. Blue and grey hydrogen are produced from natural gas, while green is derived from splitting water by electrolysis.

Low-carbon ammonia, made from nitrogen and clean hydrogen, is the most promising at-scale hydrogen carrier and potential clean fuel for a wide range of applications, including transport, power generation and fertiliser production.

AMEA Power has also signed a framework agreement with Egypt to develop a 1,000-megawatt green hydrogen project for the production of green ammonia. The project, to be located in Egypt’s Suez Governorate, will have the capacity to produce 800,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year for domestic use and export.

Earlier this year, the country signed a $3 billion agreement month with a consortium led by French firm EDF Renewables and Egyptian company Zero Waste to develop a green hydrogen megaproject in Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea that will produce up to 350,000 tonnes of green fuel annually for ships passing through the Suez Canal.