By Emmanuel Nduka
The construction work on a US $11bn wind farm project in Egypt is slated to begin in 2024.
Mohamed Mansour, Chairman of Infinity Power Holdings, one of the main companies backing the project revealed the report.
The billion dollar project is set to be one of world’s largest wind farms projected to provide electricity to Saudi Arabia and Europe upon completion. It is being built by consortium led by Abu Dhabi-owned Masdar and Infinity Power Holdings.
The project will have an output capacity of 10 gigawatts and will become operational by the end of 2030. That capacity is roughly one-fifth of what the UK has today for all forms of renewable energy. Mansour further noted that the consortium, which also includes Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities, is eyeing to secure land for the project this year, primarily at two locations in the north African country’s Western Desert – one near Minya and the other Aswan. These locations are ideal for such a project, as wind speed could reach 10 meters per second in these areas.
When completed, the power will be exported to Europe, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Libya through existing and planned cables. Egypt and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding to build this wind power project, aiming to turn the country into a regional electricity hub. The project is also part of efforts in transitioning from fossil fuels and limiting global warming.
The same group is also working on an Egyptian green-hydrogen facility that may be able to produce 480,000 tons a year of the fuel by 2030, said Mansour. Around 80% of the two projects will be financed through debt, while the rest of the money will come from equity.
“Africa is where the power generation is mostly needed. We believe in generating clean electricity through renewables and we believe that everybody has the right to access to electricity,” Mansour said.
