ACWA Power, a Saudi developer of power generation and desalinated water production facilities, and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to allot land for the construction of a 10 GW wind project in Egypt. The agreement was signed at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers in the new city of El Alamein, Egypt.
The agreement follows the MoU signed between ACWA Power, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and the NREA in November 2022. Land covering 3,000km² west of Sohag City has been allocated for the project, which will generate 50,000 gigawatt-hours of clean energy – enough to power 11 million Egyptian homes while offsetting 25.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
The 10 GW wind farm will save $6.5 billion in annual natural gas costs for Egypt while creating 120,000 jobs during its construction phase and an estimated 45,000–75,000 indirect jobs in the region. The operations and maintenance phase will also create up to 2,500 permanent jobs.
REGlobal’s Views: ACWA Power has been present in Egypt since 2015. The company has three other renewable energy projects in Egypt, that are under implementation or already operational. These include a 120 MW solar PV project in Benban, a 200 MW solar PV facility in Kom Ombo, and the 1.1 GW Suez Wind Energy project. The allocation of land for this massive 10 GW wind power project is a major step for the company’s expansion plan in the nation and the completion of this project will make ACWA Power one of the top leaders in Egypt.
