EBRD, OPIC and IFC to Provide $252 mn Loan for 250 MW Wind Farm in Gulf of Suez

A joint USD 252 million investment by the EBRD, IFC and the OPIC will finance a new 250 MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it is stepping up its support for renewable energy in Egypt by providing funds to one of the biggest wind farms in Africa. A joint USD 252 million investment by the EBRD, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), will finance a new 250 MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez.

The second privately-owned wind farm in Egypt will be constructed and operated by Lekela Egypt Wind Power BOO. It is owned by Lekela Power BV, an independent power producer established by Actis Energy Fund III and Mainstrean Renewable Power and focused on onshore wind power generation projects in Africa.

The plant will provide clean energy at an unsubsidised tariff that is below the cost of conventional power and it will avoid 550,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. 

The plant benefits from the world class wind resources of the Gulf of Suez and is the next phase in Egypt’s renewable transition, leveraging private finance and expertise to build new, highly competitive, clean generating capacity.  The project builds on the success of Egypt’s 1.5 GW Benban solar complex, now nearing completion, which is also privately financed and for which EBRD is the largest financier.

Reforming the energy sector is at the centre of Egypt’s economic transition. The country has enormous potential in renewable energy, particularly wind and solar. In recent years the EBRD has engaged closely with the authorities to create a regulatory and tariff environment which makes investments in renewables attractive and commercially successful.

Recently, EBRD had announced that it will together with its partners support a pioneering solar energy plant in Jordan with a financial package of up to USD 35 million. The project will enable the telecoms operator Orange Jordan to cover part of its demand with clean energy generated in solar plants.

The investment will be the largest private-to-private solar project in Jordan yet, benefiting from new regulations that allow private consumers to establish their own energy facilities under a process known as “wheeling” that transports electricity from within the grid to facilities outside the grid’s boundaries.