Abu Dhabi’s Masdar is entering Egypt’s renewable energy sector with plans to undertake 2 gigawatts of wind and solar projects.
“We are very excited about Egypt,” said Mohamed Al Ramahi, Masdar’s chief operating officer.
In 2010, Masdar was in discussions with Egypt for a 200 megawatt wind project to be located along the coastline of the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea area.
The company was ready to start feasibility studies when political instability put all plans on hold.
Now the country is expediting power projects to tackle chronic power outages that are severely damaging its economy, as with Masdar’s 200MW wind project, which has been increased to a 2GW wind and solar power plan.
Mr Al Ramahi described the latest deal as the same 200MW project “on steroids”. However, he added that it would take years to complete.
Masdar is partnering with Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia and they are working alongside the Egyptian government’s New and Renewable Energy Authority.
The two firms are also currently competing for a 100MW solar PV plant in Dubai.
Although this marks Masdar’s first entry into Egypt’s large-scale renewable sector, it has several special projects continuing in the country. These projects are those that are funded through governments and are mainly off grid deployments.
One of those projects is Masdar helping to provide 61,000 homes in Egypt with solar power. “These aren’t commercial ventures, rather than implementation to support the country,” Mr Al Ramahi said.
lgraves@thenational.ae
