NWFE First Progress Report: $2 Bln Facilities for Private Sector within Energy Pillar
Signing agreements for renewable energy projects with a capacity of 3.7 GWs, including 1.8 GWs for which financial closing agreements were signed.
The first follow-up progress report of the NWFE program was issued by the Ministry of International Cooperation on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the launch of the program. The NWFE program -the nexus between water, food and energy projects- as well as the “NWFE+” program for sustainable transport projects, coinciding with the holding of the high-level round table, with H.E. the Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, relevant ministries, multilateral and bilateral development partners, and representatives of the private sector about the program.
The report revealed that the total investment facilities for the private sector that were provided by multilateral and bilateral development partners for the energy pillar within the NWFE program amounted to about $2 billion, for projects in the renewable energy sector, whether solar energy or wind energy, which enhances the country’s efforts to increase the mix of renewable energy in total energy generation by about 42% by 2030 instead of 2035, according to the NDCs updated in June this year, based on the joint political declaration between Egypt, the United States and Germany that was announced during COP27.
The report indicated that the cooperation and coordination efforts that took place at the national and international levels during the first year of the NWFE program resulted in the provision of financing to the private sector worth $2 billion dollars, and contributed to the signing of the financial closure agreement for the project to establish the “Amont” station, in the Ras Gharib region in the Red Sea Governorate. To produce electricity from wind energy with a capacity of 500 MW, financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Standard Chartered Bank (a member of the GFANZ Alliance), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMTB), where commercial operation is expected to begin in May 2025.
The financial closing agreement was also signed for the project to establish the “Abydos” station to produce electricity from solar energy with a capacity of 500 MWs in the city of Kom Ombo in Aswan, funded by the IFC, the FMO: Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) where commercial operation is expected to begin in July 2024.
In addition to the signing of the financial closing agreement for the project to establish a new wind farm in the Gulf of Suez 2 region with a capacity of 504 MW between the Red Sea Wind Energy Alliance -an alliance of Orascom Construction of Egypt, Engie of France and Toyota of Japan-, the JBIC, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) where commercial operation is expected to begin in February 2025.