European Development Partners have signed an umbrella agreement with Egypt to secure financing for the 200MW windfarm project in the Gulf of Suez area in Egypt. The European Development Partners include the European Union (EU), KfW for German Development Cooperation, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD). The agreement will pave the way for the implementation of the windfarm, which is expected to cost €343m. The European Union External Service said in a statement: "With a capacity of at least 200 megawatt of renewable electricity generation the project is an integral part of the Egyptian long-term energy strategy to utilize the country's enormous renewable energy potential." Of the total funding required for the project, the European Development Partners will provide €267m. While the EU will be offering a €30m grant, the Egyptian government will allocate a fund of €78m for the Gulf of Suez windfarm project.. The German Development Cooperation will also contribute a soft loan of €72m through KfW, while EIB and AFD will offer soft loans of €115m and €50m respectively. The windfarm project, which will be implemented by Egypt's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), at the Gulf of Suez is slated to be commissioned by the end of 2019. It is likely to feature bird protection measures implemented by a radar-based "shut-down on demand" system. Expected to generate 650GWh of emissions-free energy per year, the Gulf of Suez windfarm project will meet the power needs of 370,000 Egyptians. Once commissioned, the project is expected to play its part in bringing down CO2 emissions by around 288,000 tons per year while helping Egypt in generating at least 20% of renewable energy by 2022.
