Another 5.2 GW worth of renewables are in the works: The Madbouly government on Thursday inked two MoUs with local and international energy players that could see them develop projects producing some 5.2 GW of renewable energy under a build-own-operate (BOO) system, according to a cabinet statement.

Taqa Arabia and Voltalia inked an MoU to repower the Zafarana wind farm with the EETC and NREA, according to a joint statement. The consortium of Taqa Arabia and France’s Voltalia will repower the 545-MW Zafarana wind farm with 1.1 GW of wind and 2.1 GW of solar power under the proposed plan. The consortium will carry out technical and environmental studies — covering wind speed, solar radiation, and bird migration — before construction, with studies set to wrap up by December 2025.

We heard that something like this was in the works: We heard that the government inked an agreement with investors to transform the Zafarana wind farm into a hybrid wind and solar power hub back in October at the same time it was announced the government was postponing the sale of the state asset.

A first for Egypt: The green power facility will be the first of its kind in Egypt to merge both solar and wind power, the statement said.

The project should help attract investors — and a higher price tag — when the sale is back on: The Zafarana wind farms have been on the privatization shortlist since our privatization program was relaunched in February 2023 and was reportedly the subject of ongoing negotiations last month before the sale was pushed back.

Emirati Alcazar Energy intends to set up a 2 GW onshore wind farm under its MoU inked with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA). The project will generate enough clean electricity to power over 1.3 mn households and reduce up to 4.7 mn tons of CO2 emissions annually, according to a company press release. The project is expected to engage up to 12.5k construction workers and create 1.2k permanent jobs.

Refresher: The government wants to see 3-4 GW-worth of renewable energy projects go live and start feeding the national grid by next summer to fill the energy supply gap. This push is part of a broader plan to secure the country’s energy needs amid declining natural gas production and expanding electricity interconnection projects to enable exports to surrounding countries. Egypt plans to source 42% of its energy from renewables by 2030 — a target that it recommitted to during the ongoing COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan.

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