CAIRO: The Egyptian government is planning to launch a tender in May to select the companies to build the first phase of 1,000 megawatt wind power plants in the Gulf of Suez, the official MENA news agency quoted Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younis as saying on Friday. Younis, in statements to MENA, said that the tender process will consist of two phases, upon which each would go for 5oo megawatts, and the power plants will be constructed on build-own basis Methods. He added that the investor who wins the tender will build, finance and operate the power plant for “a period ranging between 20 and 25 years,” and the Egyptian electricity ministry will purchase the generated power and sell it to the consumers according to prices set by the Egyptian Cabinet. Egypt has a capacity of about 23,500 megawatts, but it is aiming to increasing this figure to 58,000 additional megawatts by 2027 to curb the power cuts that frequently occur during the summertime due to the overload of consumption. BM
