Egypt's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) signed site receipt protocols on Wednesday for two wind power projects in West Sohag, with a total of $9 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs), the Cabinet reported. The first protocol was signed with the Norwegian renewable energy producer Scatec ASA to advance a 5-gigawatt wind power plant project in the West Sohag region, with foreign direct investments amounting to $5.7 billion. Meanwhile, Orascom Construction has signed the 3-gigawatt project, on behalf of the investor consortium that includes Electribel, a subsidiary of ENGIE, and J-Power, a Japanese energy holding company. The Minister of Electricity and Energy Mohamed Shaker has confirmed that the two projects are the largest of their kind for wind power generation in the Middle East region, and one of the largest onshore wind power projects in the world. Shaker emphasised that the implementation of the two projects comes within the framework of the Egyptian energy sector strategy, which is aimed at increasing the share of renewable energy to 42 per cent of the total generated electricity by 2030. He added that the projects would contribute to reducing about 17 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, providing about 18,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, and reducing the use of traditional energy sources.
