Leading French energy company Engie said it won a contract from the Egyptian government to develop a 250 MW wind farm in Rhas Gharib area on the Gulf of Suez together with its consortium partners Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation (40 per cent) and Orascom Construction (20 per cent).

The total investment for the project is likely to hit $400 million. Financing will be provided by the Japanese Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) in coordination with commercial lenders SMBC and Sociéte Générale.

In addition, the Japanese Export Credit Agency, NEXI, is providing an insurance cover for the commercial lenders. Construction is expected to start at the end of 2017 and will take approximately 24 months to complete.

The Gulf of Suez is the first wind farm tendered on a build, own and operate (BOO) scheme and comes as part of the Egyptian government’s drive to increase the share of renewables in the energy mix with a target wind generation capacity of 7 GW by 2022.

The plan envisions significant private sector involvement, with the private sector taking the lead on more than 60 per cent of the plan.

The wind farm will be located in Rhas Gharib on the Gulf of Suez, an optimal site with more than 60 per cent of gross capacity factor. The energy will be sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).

Bruno Bensasson, the CEO of Engie Africa, said: “Egypt is a country which expects a strong power de-mand growth in the next years to accompany its economic and social development. With this large wind project, Engie becomes an important player in Egypt’s ongoing renewable energy transition.”

Earlier, the French major joined forces with Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence to develop green certificates and the carbon credit market through several projects, most notably a project on international renewable energy certificates.

An entity established under directives of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Dubai Carbon said the MoU aims to seek opportunities to apply solutions for renewable energy and energy efficiency in Dubai and throughout the region.

It clears the path for executing joint work in the field of sustainability, the environment, climate change and social responsibility, remarked Ivano Iannelli, the chief executive of Dubai Carbon, after signing the deal with Sebastien Arbola, CEO of Engie Middle East, South and Central Asia and Turkey. The main goal of the partnership is to exchange knowledge, said Iannelli.