The infrastructure fund of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa50 signed Wednesday a joint development agreement with Norwegian Scatec Solar ASA and Norfund for 400 MW of solar power plants in Egypt. Africa50 will invest $8 million (€6.7 million) in the development of the project. Financial close is expected at the end of October. The project will require a total investment of about $450 million. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is leading a consortium of banks that is expected to support the six projects with a total debt of up to $350 million, Scatec announced in April. The power plants are being developed at the Benban site north of Aswan under the Egyptian feed-in tariff (FiT) programme. Scatec Solar announced the signing of 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the six solar plants in April this year. The company will partner with local developers and with KLP Norfund Investments for equity investments and may add more partners before financial close. Currently 92 percent of Egypt's generation capacity of about 36 GW is thermal. Source: Photon
