Acwa Power secures $123m for Egyptian solar project

Pexels/Hoan Ngoc

• Funding from EBRD and others
• Plant will power 130,000 homes
• Company has several Egyptian projects

Acwa Power, the Saudi-based energy developer, has secured $123 million of loans to reach financial close on a $182 million solar project in Egypt.

The financing for the Kom Ombo solar plant, which will add 200MW of energy capacity, comes from a range of banks and funds.

According to a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange, the loans came from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Opec Fund for International Development, African Development Bank, Green Climate Fund, Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and Arab Bank.

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The Kom Ombo plant will be located less than 20km from another Acwa development and Africa’s biggest solar park, the 1,465mw Benban complex.

The new installation is expected to be commercially operational in January 2024 and will power 130,000 households.

“The Kom Ombo solar project further demonstrates the private sector’s active involvement in Egypt’s energy transition,” said Marco Arcelli, CEO of Acwa Power.

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

It’s the latest milestone for the company in Egypt and follows the signing of a deal with the New and Renewable Energy Authority to allocate land there for a 10GW wind project.

The company, in which Saudi Arabia’s PIF has a 50 percent stake, has had a presence in Egypt since 2015.