Elsewedy / Marubeni / Masdar consortium seeks funding for USD 900 mn wind projects as gov’t drags feet on regulatory approvals

Elsewedy / Marubeni / Masdar consortium seeks funding for USD 900 mn wind projects as gov’t drags feet on regulatory approvals: A consortium made up of Elsewedy Electric, Marubeni, and UAE’s Masdar has reportedly begun seeking funding from banks for the USD 900 mn development of two wind farms, sources said. The companies have already reached a preliminary agreement with Japanese financiers to fund a part of the project and are due to begin negotiations with other lenders once they receive final sign-off from the government, which appears to be dragging its feet on handing out the approval and assigning land to the project. The government, which signed an MoU with the consortium for the project back in January, was reportedly supposed to have signed off on it in February. Talks had been dragging on over the price tag and feed-in-tariff rate of the project, in addition to the location. The government is expected to settle on the tariff rate next month, the sources added.