ACWA Power has finalised the project agreements for the 200MW Kom Ombo PV plant in Egypt
The signing of the 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Network Connection Contract and Usufruct Agreement was conducted via a virtual ceremony held with senior government officials and representatives from the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC); The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), and ACWA Power.
“Egypt is home to a wide range of untapped renewable resources particularly, wind and solar energy. The electrical capacities that can be generated from renewable sources can reach up to nearly 90 GW. In line with Egypt’s Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy, our aim is to produce 42% of Egypt’s electricity using renewable sources by 2035. Currently necessary studies are being conducted to increase this percentage, stressing on maximising the utilisation of renewable energy in many areas, including water desalination and green hydrogen production,” according to Dr Mohamed Shaker El Markabi, Egypt’s minister of electricity and renewable energy.
Financial closure of Kom Ombo PV is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021, following the obtainment of a US$40mn senior debt financing and a US$14mn equity bridge loan from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in addition to a US$27.2mn loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance the construction, development and design of the 200 MW solar PV project.
Rajit Nanda, chief portfolio management officer and acting chief investment officer of ACWA Power, commented, “Finalising the project agreements for Kom Ombo PV marks a significant milestone towards fulfilment of the project. The tariff is the lowest in the African continent for a project that is soon to achieve financial close and commence construction, which demonstrates that globally-competitive tariffs are possible in North Africa and the wider African region, we remain on track to achieve commercial operation in Q3 2022.”
