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EBRD backs Scatec’s new Egypt renewables platform: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has committed up to USD 221 mn to a new platform that will hold stakes in Norwegian developer Scatec’s solar, wind, and battery storage projects in Egypt, according to statements from Scatec and the EBRD (pdf). Under a share purchase agreement, Scatec will own 60% of the platform and the EBRD 40%, Scatec says. The vehicle, Egypt Renewables Holdings B.V., can also finance projects across the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region, the EBRD says.
How it splits: The EBRD describes the full USD 221 mn (EUR 191 mn) as an equity investment. Scatec says roughly USD 170 mn of it is equity and the rest takes the form of project-level guarantees.
What it holds: The platform is expected to hold 40% of the 1.1 GW Obelisk solar and storage plant and 51% of the 900 MW Shadwan wind farm, Scatec says, plus about 60% each of phase 1 of the Egypt Aluminium (Dandara) project and Energy Valley, a 1.95 GW solar plant with 3.9 GWh of battery storage. Other minority co-investors will hold stakes in the projects alongside the platform.
What it adds: The portfolio is set to bring an additional 2.7 GW of solar, 900 MW of wind, and 4.2 GWh of storage to Egypt’s grid, according to the EBRD. Energy Valley alone accounts for most of the new solar capacity and almost all of the storage, by our math.
The EBRD is already a lender to two of the four projects. It lent USD 173.5 mn toward Obelisk’s USD 600 mn cost, and said in August it plans to provide up to USD 192 mn in senior debt for Shadwan. That’s roughly 27% of the wind farm’s USD 716 mn capex, by our math. The projects fall under the energy pillar of Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) program.
As for where things stand, Obelisk reached full commercial operations in August, and Scatec started building Shadwan at the start of the month. By year-end, it expects construction on Energy Valley to begin and financial close to take place on both projects. It has signed mandate letters with a consortium of development finance institutions for their long-term financing, while the Arab Energy Fund is providing USD 150 mn in equity bridge loans across the two.
