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ACWA Power’s mega wind project is heading to Sohag:Saudi renewable energy firm ACWA Power yesterday signed a land allocation agreement with the Electricity Ministry for its planned 10-GW wind farm, ACWA and the Madbouly cabinet said in separate statements.
Acwa will receive a 3k sq-km plot of land in Sohag, which is emerging as a hub for wind: A Masdar / Infinity / Hassan Allam consortium is building 10 GW of generation capacity there, and Scatec is set to construct a 5 GW facility . ACWA inked an initial MoU for the project with the New and Renewable Energy Authority and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) on the sidelines of the COP27 summit in November.
The ACWA project in numbers: The wind farm, along with the Masdar / Infinity / Hassan Allam site, will be one of the largest in the world when they’re operational: They will come second only to China’s planned 20-GW Gansu project. Currently, Egypt’s largest wind farm is the 545-MW facility in Zafarana. The ACWA project will eliminate some 25.5 mn tons of emissions a year and provide electricity to some 11 mn households, creating 120k jobs, according to the statement. The estimated cost of the project was not disclosed.
The fine print: ACWA will conduct feasibility studies for the project ahead of signing the final contracts.
Sohag, wind energy hub: The three projects will see a combined 25 GW of wind generation capacity situated in the governorate, making it the country’s wind energy hub.
Egypt has ambitious targets for renewable energy, aiming to produce 42% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and 60% by 2040.
ACWA already has a significant presence in Egypt’s renewable sector, including through its 200 MW Kom Ombo solar power plant, which last April got USD 114 mn in backing from a consortium of international lenders led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The company has minority stakes in three plants in Benban and an upcoming project with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to convert an electricity plant in Luxor to renewable energy, and has reportedly expressed interest in Egypt’s investment in desalination infrastructure.
