The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) will sign a contract with ACWA Power to purchase energy from the company's 500 MW wind farm, to be established with $500m of investments before the end of the year. The CEO of ACWA Power, Paddy Padmanathan, said that a ministerial committee has approved the company's offer to establish a wind farm with a capacity of 500 MW in the Suez Gulf area under the build, own, and operate (BOO) system. He added that his company will sell its produced energy at 3.12 cents per kWh, noting that the construction will start within a month and a half. Meanwhile, ACWA Power seeks to complete its 120 MW solar power plants in Benban, Aswan, established under the feed-in tariff programme, during the second quarter (Q2) of 2019, Padmanathan added He noted that the company's Benban energy projects are part of the government's efforts to activate the feed-in tariff programme and benefit from ACWA Power's modern technologies in energy generation. The company's CEO indicated the developments of the contract planned to be signed to establish an electricity plant with capacity of 2250MW, which is the project that the company seeks to implement in Luxor with investments estimated at $2.3bn. Padmanathan said that Egypt has the most prominent opportunities in terms of renewable energy in the region, pointing out that the government has recently adjusted the local legislative environment, which attracted his company and others to invest in Egypt. He said that ACWA Power presented a competitive offer and provided the lowest price of 2.752 cents per kWh in the Kom Ombo tender. "Since ACWA Power entered the Egyptian market, it has sought to continuously inject investments to develop new projects in the energy sector, especially that our company gives great attention to the Egypt," Padmanathan stated. He pointed out that the company's total investments reached $34bn. It produces about 34 GW of electricity, and about 2.9m cubic metres of water are desalinated on a daily basis. The company's production is supplied to industrial bodies according to long-term purchase contracts. The company aims to implement projects in Egypt with total investments of $4bn, noting that the investment climate in Egypt is very good, Padmanathan revealed. "The government has made great efforts to adjust the legislative environment for foreign companies, and more projects will be established over the few upcoming years," he said. Padmanathan added that implementing energy projects requires huge investments, and Egyptian banks have enough liquidity to cover long-term loans.
