The European Investment Bank (EIB) has been in talks with Scatec, a Norwegian company which specializes in renewable energy systems, to cooperate in the field of green hydrogen production in Egypt, according to EIB Vice President Gelsomina Vigliotti. She told Daily News Egypt that the bank and the company discussed potential projects that the bank could finance in this field.
She said that the financing value has not been decided yet, as it will depend on the nature and feasibility of the project.
The EIB has allocated €1.3bn for energy projects under the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) programme. The bank is very keen on new and renewable energy projects, as it has stopped financing fossil fuel projects for energy production since 2019, Vigliotti said.
She explained that the bank’s investments in energy projects are based on producing new and renewable energy from solar and wind sources, as well as distributing electricity from those sources. She added that the bank is currently studying the information available in Egypt to discuss financing nitrogen production projects.
Regarding the transport sector, Vigliotti said that the EIB has provided €750m for the Alexandria Metro project, which is the largest share in an international alliance that includes the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the French Development Agency, with €250m each. The Alexandria Metro project is part of the joint projects that the EIB is implementing in Egypt in the transport sector under its €1.5bn financing programme, which is part of the NWFE programme signed with the Ministry of Transport at the COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt to support the green transition.
She said that the bank has already started implementing the first two projects in the programme’s transport sector, which are the Alexandria-Abu Qir Metro and the extension of the first line of the Cairo Metro from El-Marg to Shibin Al-Qanater.
She stated: “The total pledges made under the NWFE for the sustainable transport sector reached €3.5bn, with €1.5bn from the EIB, €1.5bn from the EBRD, and €500m from the French Development Agency. Therefore, the EIB is currently one of the most important international financing institutions in the transport sector, as it finances the renovation of the first and second lines of the metro, the Alexandria Abu Qir Metro, and the development of the Raml Tram in Alexandria.
Vigliotti also said that the bank is interested in developing the railway system. Last March, the bank signed a €221m financing deal to develop the Tanta-Mansoura-Damietta railway line in cooperation with the National Railways Authority of Egypt.
