Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said that it financed the 220 MW wind power plant of Gulf of El Zayt by soft ODA Loans amounting to about $350m, noting that its electricity portfolio in Egypt includes 17 projects amounting to about $2.1bn.
“We look forward to a successful operation of the Gulf El Zayt project and to continuing the fruitful cooperation with the government of Egypt,” according to a statement by JICA on Wednesday, adding that JICA is supporting Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy in various fields of generation, transmission, distribution, grid management and energy efficiency.
“In light of the remarkable and comprehensive electricity sector development implemented by Egypt’s government, as a key pillar of Egypt’s 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has inaugurated the Gulf of El Zayt power plant on Tuesday,” mentioned the statement.
Gulf of El Zayt power plant aims at increasing electric power supply and saving fossil fuel consumption, thereby contributing to fulfilment of demand for electricity, to mitigation of climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emission, and to economic and social development, as well as preservation of the environment in Egypt.
Gulf of El Zayt power plant is located along the Red Sea coast, 350 km southeast of Cairo and it is expected to save carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 494,000 tonnes per year, as compared to an equivalent quantity of power produced with fossil fuels, which is consistent with the plan of the Egyptian Government as declared in the SDS 2030, as well as the direction of the government of Japan to contribute to the climate change mitigation globally.
The project is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and New and Renewable Energy Authority, as part of the long history of cooperation with both aforementioned entities.
“Egypt has a large potential for renewable energy. A 20 MW photovoltaic project supported by us is planned to be constructed in Hurghada. Agreement between the government of Egypt and Japan was concluded in February 2016, during President Sisi’s visit to Japan,” said JICA.
In the past, JICA has also supported renewable energy in Egypt through the construction of the first solar combined cycle power plant in the Middle East, located in Kuraymat, 95 km south of Cairo, as well as the Zafarana wind power plant with capacity of 120 MW, noted the statement.
Additionally, JICA also supports the human resources development in the electricity sector throughout several training programmes that previously targeted around 50 engineers and technicians last year, said the statement, noting that it is expected to train a similar number of engineers in 2018; mainly in the fields of energy efficiency, operation, and maintenance of thermal power plants.
