The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) will conclude negotiations with 10 local and foreign institutions to provide funding to establish a 2,000 MW wind plant implemented by Siemens next month.
Head of the authority Mohamed Salah Sobky said they plan to raise €180m of the total cost of €2bn for the project’s first phase, especially since Siemens started the implementation of the first phase, expected to produce 180 MW.
Sobky told Daily News Egypt that the authority is negotiating with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Commercial International Bank (CIB), Bank Audi, National Bank of Dubai (NBD), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), German Development Bank (KFW), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
He said the authority seeks to raise 60% of the project’s cost from international financial institutions, while 30% will be raised from local banks. There is a preliminary agreement with an alliance of NBE, Banque Misr, and CIB to provide the necessary funding for the project.
The total cost for the implementation of wind farms, with a capacity of 2,000MW, is €2bn. Siemens will establish a self-financed factory for the production of blades for wind turbines with investments of €100m. The factory will manufacture 300 blades per year for 100 turbines and capacities of 340 MW.
Sobky said Siemens began implementing the first phase of the project to produce 180 MW. Technical and financial negotiations for the projects are expected within weeks.
The authority has not paid Siemens so far, since the final agreement with the banks to finance the projects has not been completed yet. The signing of the contracts for the purchase of the produced electricity will take place with Siemens, after obtaining loans from the banks.
He said the current negotiations include the price per kilowatt from the produced electricity. The authority is cooperating with Siemens to conduct measurements and studies on wind speeds and directions and the topography of the ground to start the project.
According to the agreement between Siemens and the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Siemens will establish a station with a capacity of 300 MW, followed by stations with capacities of 400 MW and 500 MW, to reach a total capacity of 2,000 MW.
Siemens will implement the project through APC + Finance, where Siemens will raise the necessary funding and the authority will pay the premiums of funding granted as loans.
