The two agreements were signed by the Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Fayza Aboulnaga and Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, the World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region. The Prime Minister H.E. Dr. Ahmad Nazif and Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr. Hassan Younes witnessed the signing.
“We are very pleased to continue supporting the Government of Egypt in meeting the growing electricity demand in the country and ensuring access to reliable supply of power, thus, supporting economic growth and social development," said Dr. Akhtar.
The first project, Giza North Power Project, will contribute to improve the security and efficiency of electricity supply by adding a new generation capacity based on the most efficient thermal power generation technology. The project comprises development and construction of a 1,500-MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant at Giza North near Cairo. The plant will use natural gas as the main fuel and light diesel oil as a back-up. The plant will be owned and operated by the Cairo Electricity Production Company (CEPC), a subsidiary of Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC).
The second project, Wind Power Development Project, is $150 million financed from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to become the first CTF supported project in the Middle East and North Africa region.
“We are also pleased to support the renewable energy strategy of Egypt and the country’s ambitious program for scaling up development of the wind and solar power plants which can serve both national and regional goals of achieving fossil fuel savings, protection of the environment, the creation of green jobs and technology transfer,” Dr. Akhtar said.
Some of the world’s best wind power resources are in Egypt, especially n the areas of the Gulf of Suez, where at least 7,200 MW could be potentially developed by 2022, with further 3,000 MW on the west and east banks of the Nile. Under its large scale development of renewable resources strategy, Egypt plans to have 20% of its installed generation capacity in the form of renewables by 2020.
The project’s development objective is to develop infrastructure and business models for scaling-up wind power in Egypt. It comprises transmission infrastructure development and support for the construction of the first 250 MW wind project in the Gulf of Suez and Gabel El-Zait. The project will connect the future wind parks at Gulf of Suez and Gabel El-Zait to the national network.
Background: World Bank’s support in the Energy Sector:
Over the last several years the World Bank became an important development partner in Egypt’s energy sector through financing projects in traditional and renewable energy, and gas distribution.
In 2006, the Board approved El-Tebbin power project and one year later the Board approved the GEF-financed solar-thermal El-Kureimat power project which included the first concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Egypt and one of the first integrated solar-thermal power projects in the world.
In the gas sector, a project was approved in 2008 to assist in the expansion of natural gas distribution infrastructure to support the government’s fuel switching strategy into natural gas, especially for residential consumption.
In January 2009, the Bank approved an investment loan for the Ain Sokhna Power Project, which is based on a more efficient supercritical steam technology, the first power plant of this type in Egypt.
