Egypt greenlights Masdar's $900mln solar power investment bid

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Arab Finance: The Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has approved a bid from the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) to build solar power plants with over $900 million in investments, an official source told Asharq Business.

The offer includes the construction of power plants with a total capacity of approximately 1,000 megawatts in Upper Egypt, including Aswan, the official said.

Masdar will carry out and finance the project under the build, own, operate (BOO) model, while the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) will commit to purchasing the entire produced energy for about 25 years, he added.

The final contracts and energy purchase price agreements are currently being reviewed and are expected to be signed between the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and the EETC by October, as per the official.

NREA will allocate land for the project based on the usufruct system in exchange of 2% of the generated energy, he highlighted.

Masdar aims to complete these projects and connect them to Egypt's national grid by the end of 2025, using photovoltaic cells and solar panels, the official said, expecting Masdar to select an Egyptian partner to handle the project’s civil works.