French multinational electric utility company, Engie and its consortium partners have inaugurated Egypt's first private and largest wind farm located in Ras Gharb in Gulf of Suez at a capacity of 262.5 MW. The total investment cost of the project is approximately $380 million. Ras Ghareb project started commercial operation late October, 6 weeks ahead of schedule. It is the first wind farm tendered on a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) scheme in the country and is a part of the Egyptian government's drive to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix with a target wind generation capacity of 7 GW within 2022 . The project company, Ras Ghareb Wind Energy SAE is owned by ENGIE (40 percent) and its consortium partners Toyota Tsusho Corporation / Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation (40 percent) and Orascom Construction (20 percent). Shankar Krishnamoorthy, ENGIE's Executive Vice President commented: "Ras Ghareb wind farm illustrates our ambitious development strategy, aiming to accelerate the zero carbon transition of our clients. We are proud to contribute to the greening of Egypt's energy mix and we are ready to work further with our partners towards the renewables' objectives of the country. " ENGIE has set a target of developing 9 GW or additional renewable capacity worldwide by 2021, and intends to invest approximately EUR 2.5 billion in the sector. Source: Africa Business Communities
