Vodafone Egypt will invest around $100 million to build a solar power plant, its chief executive Alexandre Froment-Curtil said on Sunday. Froment-Curtil did not reveal any time frame for the company's planned investments until an agreement is reached with the state-run Egyptian Electric utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency. The company, a unit of British telecoms giant Vodafone, will seek to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) and build on-site renewable energy installations across its technology centres and base station sites. The anticipated plant will be linked to Egypt's national electricity grid, in the time Vodafone Egypt would seek lowering its electricity bills, he added. In March, Vodafone Egypt announced its goal of shifting to 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. As such, it launched a bid to establish a solar power plant in Egypt, making it the first company to produce energy rather than just consume it. The plant is expected to produce 20-50 megawatts. As part of its sustainability goals, Vodafone Egypt also intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its network business 40 percent by 2025 by focusing on energy efficiency solutions. Egypt currently seeks to become a regional energy hub, through exchanging electricity with neighboring countries and collaborating with leading African ones to export electricity to countries in need. With this in mind, Vodafone's plan to implement the solar energy plant aims at supporting the Egyptian economy and aligns with the government's plans to increase the production of renewable energy, which also comes in line with Egypt's Vision 2030.
