Masdar to invest $900m in solar projects in Egypt

Reuters/Oriental Image/Liang xiaopeng

The UAE’s renewables energy major Masdar has received approval from the Egyptian government to invest more than $900 million to build solar power plants.

These projects will have a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) and will be located primarily in Upper Egypt, including the Aswan governorate, Egypt Today newspaper reported, citing a cabinet statement.

The ministry of electricity and renewable energy has approved Masdar’s proposal to establish these solar energy stations, which will operate under a build-own-operate model.

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The state-run Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co will be the principal off-taker of the renewable power for 25 years.

Contract and pricing details are still being finalised, the report said. The agreements between the Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co and Masdar are expected to be signed in October.

As part of the deal, NREA will provide land in exchange for 2 percent of the project’s energy output.

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The UAE company is expected to partner with an Egyptian company for civil works. It aims to complete these projects and connect them into the national grid by the end of 2025, the report said.

Last month, Infinity Power, a joint venture between Egypt’s Infinity and the UAE’s Masdar, signed a power purchase agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company for a 200-MW wind farm.

Egypt, the Arab world’s third-largest economy, intends to step up solar, wind and green hydrogen projects as it grapples with declining natural gas production.

The country aims to increase power generation from renewables to 42 percent by 2035.