ACWA nails $704m for gigascale Egypt wind farm set to use Chinese turbines
Developer says $1.2bn project's financial close underlines 'viability of the Egyptian renewables market'
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power said it has reached financial close on its $1.2bn Suez Wind Farm in Egypt, set to become one of the largest on the African continent at 1.1GW.
ACWA and its partner Hassan Allam Utilities secured a $704m senior debt facility from a consortium of banks to finance the wind farm, which will be built in two 550MW phases.
ACWA – which owns 70% of the project – said the project will play a key role in Egypt’s push to have a 42% renewables share in its power mix by 2040.
ACWA Power chief investment officer Thomas Brostrom said: “Securing financing for a project of this magnitude underscores the confidence investors have in our expertise and the viability of the Egyptian renewables market.”
The banking consortium backing the project includes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the African Development Bank, the British International Investment Corporation, the German Investment Corporation, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation.
ACWA has become a major player in Egypt’s renewables sector, where it already has more than 300MW of solar operating and is looking at options to develop a 10GW wind power mega-project.
ACWA Power and Envision have worked together before, with the Chinese OEM last year winning a 1GW contract to supply turbines for a project in Uzbekistan.