Egypt inaugurates 252-MW Gulf of Suez wind farm

Egypt has inaugurated the 252-MW Gulf of Suez wind farm which is expected to generate 1,200 MWh of clean electricity annually.

Owned by Egypt's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), the wind farm is part of the North African country's plan to expand the share of renewable energy in its power mix to 42% by the end of this decade.

The commissioning of the Gulf of Suez plant will save more than 200,000 tonnes of fossil fuel annually and offset about 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

The total investment cost of the project amounts to about EUR 220 million (USD 238.74m) and was financed through a consortium of European financing institutions, including German development bank KfW, the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the European Commission (EC), NREA's chairman Mohamed Al Khayat said last August.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy. During the event, Shaker noted that Egypt has the technical potential for about 350 GW of wind and 650 GW of solar energy, and so far more than 40,000 square kilometres have been allocated for renewable energy projects.

The minister also emphasised that the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) is working with Belgian company Elia to study the needs of the national network to accommodate renewable energy for green hydrogen projects and determine the requirements for strengthening the network to address the expected significant increase in renewable energy generation.

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