Global power developer ACWA Power has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to develop a 10 GW wind power project in the North African country.
The MoU, signed by Mohamed El Khayat, Chairman of the NREA, and Hassan Amin, Country Director for Egypt at ACWA Power, will allocate approximately 3,000km2 of land near the city of Sohag to the Saudi Arabian company for the project’s development.
The signing ceremony took place at Egypt’s Council of Minister headquarters in the city of El Alamein and in the presence of Egypt’s Prime Minister, Moustafa Madbouly; Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker; Consul General of Saudi Arabia in Alexandria, Maya bin Muhammad Al-Huwaishan; Chairman of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company, Sabah Mashaly and ACWA Power CEO, Marco Arcelli.
“Egypt has adopted an ambitious program to advance the electricity sector in various fields, which includes maximizing the utilization of new and renewable energy resources, encouraging investment in these fields to enable energy independence from fossil fuels, continuing to reduce carbon emissions, and increasing renewable energy capacity in the energy mix up to 41% by 2035,” Minister Shaker stated.
Poised to play a significant role in developing the renewable energy capabilities of the Middle East and North African regions, the 10 GW wind power plant will boast an output of approximately 50,000 GWh of clean energy per year, providing electricity to roughly 11 million households while mitigating up to 25.5 million tons of CO2 emissions each year.
The project is expected to result in an estimated $6.5 billion in annual savings on natural gas costs for Egypt while leading to the creation of up to 120,000 job opportunities. The construction phase of the project is expected to lead to the creation of 45,000 direct jobs, while creating an additional 75,000 indirect jobs. Furthermore, the operation and maintenance phase of the solar plant is anticipated to generate around 2,500 jobs.
“We are determined to harness the vast potential of wind power, creating jobs, reducing emissions, and ensuring a greener and brighter future for Egypt, in alignment with ACWA Power’s vision for a sustainable planet,” Arcelli stated.
