CAIRO: A total of 32 companies have presented bids for a tender to build a 250-megawatt wind farm on Egypt s east coast, the state news agency MENA said on Wednesday. Egypt had announced the tender for the wind farm on a build-operate-own (BOO) basis on May 9. Firms were invited to submit qualification documents by July 21 for short-listing but the deadline was later pushed back to August 20. The agency quoted Electricity Minister Hassan Younes as stating the large number of offers received indicated Egypt s success in encouraging investment in wind energy. The project developer would be required to design, finance, construct, own and operate the power plant for 20 to 25 years, and would sell the power produced during that period to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company. Younes had said in June a total of 72 international companies had expressed interest in the tender by buying the bidding documents. Egypt, a gas and oil producer, has been developing wind power along its Red Sea coast in the east of the country. It aims to generate 12 percent of its power from wind farms and a total of 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020. The most populous Arab country now generates 430 megawatts from wind energy and financing for another 920 megawatts is also being finalized, Younes said. Officials say Egypt s combined oil and gas reserves will last the country for roughly three more decades. -Reuters
