UAE-led consortium to build $10bn wind farm in Egypt

Masdar

A consortium led by Masdar has signed an agreement to secure land in Egypt to build a $10 billion 10gw capacity wind farm.

Infinity Power, a joint venture between the UAE’s Masdar and Egyptian renewables business Infinity, and Hassan Allam Utilities, a Cairo-based developer and investor, signed the deal with Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority.

The wind project will produce 47,790gwh of clean energy annually and reduce around nine percent of Egypt’s annual carbon emissions by displacing 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. 

The wind farm will help Egypt meet its strategic objective of sourcing 42 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030, saving an estimated $5 billion in natural gas costs a year.

The original agreement to develop the 10gw wind farm was signed between Masdar-Hassan Allam Utilities-Infinity Power and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company on the sidelines of Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh last year. 

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE minister of industry and advanced technology, and chairman of Masdar, said: “This 10gw onshore wind project is set to be one of the largest wind farms in the world and largest on the African continent.”

The world needs to treble renewable energy capacity by 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, he said, adding that projects such as these will support the global efforts to reduce the impact of climate change and help keep the ambition of 1.5C intact.

Egypt’s minister of electricity and renewable energy Dr Mohamed Shaker Al Markabi said renewable energy in the country has the potential to attract direct foreign investments, and the national Egyptian entities play a vital role in driving investment with low risks.

In March, Masdar became Africa’s largest operator of renewables after Infinity Power acquired Lekela Power, a renewables developer with operations across the African continent. 

The Abu Dhabi-based firm signed deals to develop renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of up to 5gw in Angola, Uganda and Zambia in January.

During Cop27, Masdar, Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities also signed agreements with Egyptian state-backed organisations to develop green hydrogen and derivatives production facilities. 

The consortium targets a capacity of 4gw by 2030 and an output of up to 480,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.