Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power plans to expand its investments in the Egyptian market in 2016 through a final agreement on projects for which memoranda of understanding (MoU) were signed during the Egypt Economic Development Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh last March.
Regional Manager for Acwa Power Hassan Amin said the legislation and regulations governing investment in Egypt helped the company invest in the field of electricity generation through a contract to construct conventional, coal, and new and renewable energy stations.
He told Daily News Egypt that the government is working to provide facilitations and incentives to attract investors, and that the foreign currency crisis will be overcome in the next few months. The state is working to create a positive environment for investment in the energy field, and to provide electricity to all citizens.
Egypt is witnessing political and economic stability after years of suffering, especially after the recent formation of parliament and consequent interest from foreign companies who wish to invest in Egypt in the fields of energy, transportation, and communications. All of this will help grow Egypt’s economy in the near future, he said.
Amin said Acwa Power is planning to build electricity generation plants with a capacity of 6,200 MW through investments worth $15bn, with final agreements are expected to be signed this year.
The company is in the final stage of negotiations to construct an electricity plant, which operates on clean coal in Safaga with a capacity of 2,000 MW. The negotiations have set a price per KW produced by the station, the technology used, and the timeline for project implementation.
The Ministry of Electricity is reviewing final contracts with Acwa Power to build the Dayrout electricity station in Beheira with a capacity of 2,250 MW after the company qualified for a tender offered by the ministry. The contract is expected to be completed this year.
Amin said the Dayrout power station will be located on an area of 70 acres and comprised of three units with a capacity of 750 MW each. The station will employ combined cycle technology, which produces half of the energy without using extra fuel or technology.
The Dayrout project is the first Build-Operate-Own project of its kind in Egypt, in which the investor is granted usufruct for 25 years. Agreements will be signed between the investor and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to purchase the energy produced by the project.
Amin said Acwa Power signed a MoU with the government in cooperation with the UAE company Masdar to produce 2,000 MW of energy, of which 1,500 MW will be solar, 500 MW wind, and 2200 MW combined cycle conventional energy station in West Damietta, which employs high-efficiency turbines.
The Ministry of Finance’s guarantee for new and renewable energy projects is a catalyst for investors to begin implementing the stations and linking productive capacity to power generation projects for solar and wind energy on the national network. The goal is to encourage investment in renewable energy and speed up the announcement of the second phase of the project in accordance with the feed-in tariff.
Acwa Power completed the establishment of a joint Egyptian company to implement its projects within the Egyptian market and will continue to promote societal development by providing efficient, reliable energy at the lowest possible cost, in the interest of society as a whole, he said.
Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Acwa Power as Aqua Power, and included a mistaken reference to Masdar company.
