Italgen, the energy generation arm of Italian cement giant Italcementi, is to invest 140 million euros in Egypt to build a station that will generate wind power at a capacity of 120 megawatts. Italgen's project is the first privately owned development of a wind farm in Egypt, and will be located along the shores of the Red Sea in the Gulf El Zeit area. "The group, which operates in 22 countries is now ready to submit its contributions to (New Egypt)," says Giuseppe De Beni, general director of the group, in an interview with MENA on the sideline of his current visit to Egypt. "Egypt is really qualified to receive foreign investments from private sector," De Beni adds. Italgen's general director stated that a large part of the energy generated from the wind power project in Egypt will be used in the production processes of Suez Cement, a company owned by the Italian group. In November 2007, Italgen signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian minister for energy and electricity concerning the construction of a wind farm with 120-MW capacity (possibly upgraded to 400 MW), thus curbing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by approximately 257,000 tons per year.
