The Danish company Vestas Wind Systems intends to present a formal offer to the Ministry of Electricity to establish wind plants with a capacity of 2,200 MW and with investments worth $2.2bn next week.
A source in the company told Daily News Egypt that the project will be inaugurated with the EPC+ finance system, in which Vestas will finance the plant and the Ministry of Electricity—as an owner of the project—will pay its value after completing the project (Turnkey).
Vestas officials will present a formal bid next week that includes the total cost of the project, the banks which will finance it, and the area of land, in addition to a proposal to set up a factory for wind turbine blade maintenance in Egypt.
Minster of Electricity Mohamed Shaker met with the Danish ambassador to Egypt Brunel Cradle and a number of officials from Vestas last month to discuss the offer.
The minister asked the officials of the company to provide a formal offer to present it to the Proposals Evaluation Committee in the Ministry of Electricity, besides a development suggestions proposal for Zafarana wind plant, especially as the company has 117 turbines producing 80 megawatts. The development and modernisation of the plant will increase its efficiency and operational life.
The source explained that the company is seeking to start the project’s executive steps in four months, after specifying an area of land in the West Nile region, so as to make measurements and studies about the wind speed and bird migration there.
The company is ready to establish the first plant with a capacity of 250MW out of a total of 2,200MW that is planned to be carried out after signing of the agreement with the Ministry of Electricity.
Vestas has banking entities that will measure the cost of the project, including HSBC, EFK Denmark, Euler Hermes, IFU Denmark, Danida, and CDP Banco Standard.
The total lands assigned to the sun and wind plants—in cooperation with the private sector with the usufruct system—reach 7,872 sqkm. Of this total, 1,420 sqkm in the Suez Gulf region is assigned to set up a wind plant with a 7,000 MW capacity; 2,200 sqkm in the east of the Nile area is assigned to establish sun and wind plants in Beni Suef and Al Minya; and 4,200 sqkm is assigned to establish sun and wind plants west of the Nile.
The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) is planning to expand the establishment of sun and wind plants through the private sector by organising mechanisms and controls either through tenders, direct contractual, or the feed-in tariff, chairperson of the authority Mohamed Salah El-Sobki said.
