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The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) is discussing a $1.5 billion desalination project powered by green energy with UAE-based Metito Holdings, Norway's Scatec, and Egypt's Orascom Construction.
"The project is expected to be procured under build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model, and reflects government efforts to address the looming challenge of water shortage," Metito's managing director for Africa, Karim Madwar, told Zawya Projects.
He said the scope of the project being discussed with the sovereign fund includes a 400-megawatt solar power plant and a desalination plant with a capacity of 1 to 2 million cubic metres per day (m3/day).
He added that Egypt could also look at options like floating mobile desalination plants similar to the ones being built by Metito for the world's largest floating desalination project in Saudi Arabia at a cost of about $300 million.
The total capacity of the project, on completion, would be 150,000 m3/day.
Madwar said Egypt had allocated $2.5 billion to construct over a dozen green energy-powered desalination plants by 2025.
(Reporting by Marwa Abo Almajd; Editing by Anoop Menon)
