Aqua Power Systems and Alcazar Energy are waiting for the government’s approval to launch two wind farms with total capacity of 500 MW, with investments of $700m.
Government sources said that a committee from the Ministry of Electricity was tasked to study an offer presented by Aqua Power to launch a 250 MW wind farm, and another offer presented by Alcazar to build a 250 MW wind farm.
The sources added that the committee has finished studying the two proposals and submitted its report to the Minister of Electricity, Mohamed Shaker. The two proposals are expected to be discussed during the next cabinet meeting.
They further added that the two companies offered to sell the production of their stations at 3.6 – 3.8 cents.
According to the sources, the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) will grant the two companies the required land to establish their power projects after the government’s approval.
According to the NREA, the land to be allocated according to the usufruct system amounts to 7,872 square km. The land is divided into: 1,420 square km in the Suez Gulf area to establish a wind farm with a capacity of 7,000 MW, as well as 2,200 square km to establish solar and wind power plants in Beni Suef, Minya and Assiut.
The sources pointed out that the Electricity Law contributed to attract more private companies to invest in the energy sector, especially that the government does not seek to compete with the private sector and aims to create more jobs.
The sources noted that some companies have not submitted yet their initial pre-approval letters of banks to finance wind power projects in the feed-in tariff programme.
Even though, other companies seek to implement other projects through competitive bidding system, which means that the renewable energy sector is attractive for investment.
