The 500-MW Gulf of Suez wind farm has reached financial close, the project developers said in a joint statement (pdf) yesterday. The consortium — which includes Orascom Construction, France’s Engie, and Japan’s Toyota Tsusho and Eurus Energy — is developingthe project under a build-own-operate framework and has a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).

Where the money’s coming from: The Red Sea Wind Energy consortium has obtained aUSD 501 mn syndicated loan from a number of Japanese and European banks. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JIBC) is providing up to USD 240 mn of the loan, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the Norinchukin Bank, and Societe Generale are providing the rest of the funding. Nippon Export and Investment Ins. will provide the guarantee. Our friends at HSBC Egypt are acting as working capital bank and onshore security agent.

Who owns what: Both Toyota and Eurus hold 40%, while Engie owns 35%, and OC holds the remaining 25% stake.

T-minus two years:The project is set to be connected to the electricity grid over two phases with full commercial operation scheduled for 3Q 2025, according to the statement. Situated at Ras Ghareb, the project will be able to supply renewable energy to over 800k homes. The consortium signed the agreement (pdf) for the project in October 2021 and broke ground ahead of COP27 in November.

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