Egypt - Actis, a global direct investment company, is in talks with the government to buy the Gabal El Zeit wind station, one of the largest wind power plants in the world. If the deal goes through, Actis plans to borrow $250m from international institutions to fund the expansion of the station’s production capacity.

According to sources close to the event, a consortium of Chinese and European development financing institutions is ready to arrange the financing for Actis. The sources also said that Actis and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt have reached a preliminary agreement to buy the station for about $350m. The Fund has given Actis an exclusive period of two months to conduct due diligence on the project.

The Sovereign Fund of Egypt has also hired some of the top technical advisors to evaluate the wind power plant and the final offer that Actis will submit. The project is expected to cost around $400m in total.

Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, told DNE that the deal will be finalized within six weeks, before the end of this year.

The station was put up for sale in April this year after a joint committee was formed between the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy. The committee invited investors to bid for the project based on certain criteria: an energy tariff price of 2.4 US cents per kilowatt hour, with 25% of it paid in Egyptian pounds, and the right to use the land for free.

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Fatma Salah