EBRD greenlit USD 275 mn loan for Gulf of Suez mega wind farm: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a USD 275 mn syndicated loan to Saudi renewables giant ACWA Power and Hassan Allam Utilities’ 1.1 GW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez — the largest wind project in both Africa and the Middle East, according to two separate statements from the Planning Ministry statement and the multilateral development bank.

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We knew this was coming: We first heard about the loan back in November, when the two companies were said to be in talks with the EBRD over the funding.

Everyone is pitching in: The EBRD is contributing USD 200 mn and the remaining USD 75 mn will be coming from Arab Bank (USD 60 mn) and Standard Chartered (USD 15 mn). The USD 1.1 bn project is also backed by a USD 170 mn loan from the African Development Bank, a USD 40 mn loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development, the British International Investment, Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, and the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).

More to come? The two companies are reportedly set to secure close to USD 900 mn in financing by the end of the year for their 1.1 GW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, a source with knowledge of the matter told EnterpriseAM in September.

What we know about the project: When operational, the project will be a big boost to our energy production and green transition targets, with the project set to offset 2.2 mn tons of carbon dioxide annually and produce enough power for nearly 1.1 mn households.

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