CAIRO: Egypt and the World Bank signed two new loan agreements on Thursday for two projects totaling $820 million, according to a statement from the bank. “The combined amount of the two loans is the largest financing provided by the World Bank in support of Egypt's electricity sector,” the statement read. The projects are: Giza North Power Project ($600 million) and the Wind Power Development Project (($220 million). The agreements were signed by Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Aboul Naga and Shamshad Akhtar, the World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa. Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif and Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younes witnessed the signing. “We are very pleased to continue supporting the government of Egypt in meeting the growing electricity demand in the country and ensuring access to reliable supply of power, thus, supporting economic growth and social development," said Akhtar. The Giza North Power Project, will see the construction of a 1,500-MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant that will add a new generation capacity based on thermal power generation technology. The plant will use natural gas as the main fuel and light diesel oil as a back-up; and will be owned and operated by the Cairo Electricity Production Company (CEPC), a subsidiary of Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC). The Wind Power Development Project, is $150 million financed from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), the first CTF supported project in MENA. “We are also pleased to support the renewable energy strategy of Egypt and the country's ambitious program for scaling up development of the wind and solar power plants which can serve both national and regional goals of achieving fossil fuel savings, protection of the environment, the creation of green jobs and technology transfer,” Akhtar said. Egypt's Gulf of Suez has wind power resources of at least 7,200 MW, which could be developed by 2022, with further 3,000 MW on the west and east banks of the Nile. Egypt plans generate 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020. The project's aims to develop infrastructure and business models for scaling-up wind power in Egypt, comprising transmission infrastructure development and support for the construction of the first 250 MW wind project in the Gulf of Suez and Gabel El-Zait. The project will connect the future wind parks at Gulf of Suez and Gabel El-Zait to the national network.
