Makadi Heights, one of Orascom Development’s fully integrated township projects in the Red Sea area, has signed an agreement with SolarizEgypt, to develop a 1.5 megawatt (MW) dedicated solar power plant for the project. 

Makadi Heights will procure the project using the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model under a 25-year corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SolarizEgypt, the developer said in a press statement. 

SolarizEgypt will implement the project at an investment of 18 million Egyptian pounds ($1.15 million).

The statement said that the plant, spread over an area of 15,000 square metres, is expected to start operation by the first quarter of 2023.  

 Tamer Dewidar, CEO of Makadi Heights, said: “The solar power plant will utilise 3,640 solar panels and is expected to generate over 3,304 MWh/year, producing up to 20 percent of the total power supply of Makadi Heights. This agreement will allow the solar power plant to offset 2,143 tonnes of CO2 each year, equivalent to removing 258 cars off the road, saving 219,000 gallons of gas, and planting 1,600 trees. This will definitely leave a positive impact on the overall environment scene in the Red Sea area.” 

Yaseen Abdel Ghaffar, Founder and Managing Director of SolarizEgypt, said his company would sell electricity directly to Makadi Heights as an Independent Power Producer (IPP).

“The project will be financed by local banks and the Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),” he said.

He added that SolarizEgypt has more than 50MWs of signed projects in Egypt’s commercial and industrial solar market.

In 2020, the solar power developer had implemented Egypt’s first corporate PPA rooftop photovoltaic solar power project with a 1-MW capacity for Coca-Cola’s Sadat City plant.

(1 US Dollar = 15.71 Egyptian Pounds)

(Writing by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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