Egypt’s largest solar plant, Kom Ombo has secured a $114 million financing package from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank.
The financing package with ACWA Power is for the construction of the largest private solar plant in Egypt.
This new development will make Kom Ombo solar plant add 200MW to its energy capacity, increase the share of renewable energy in Egypt, and further promote private-sector participation in the Egyptian power sector.
The total funds received was $36 million from the EBRD, $18 million from the OPEC Fund, $17.8 million from the AfDB, $23.8 million from the GCF and $18 million from Arab Bank.
This is in addition to equity bridge loans of up to $14 million from EBRD and $33.5 million from Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).
The new Kom Ombo plant will be located less than 20km from Africa’s biggest solar park, the 1.8GW Benban complex. Once operational, the new utility-scale plant will serve 130,000 households.
ACWA Power submitted the lowest tariff in what was the first solar photovoltaic (PV) tender in Egypt. The provision of solar energy through a public tendering process aims to achieve a competitive tariff and promote the growth of solar energy as an affordable alternative to conventional energy sources.
Private-sector participation in the Kom Ombo project is the result of successful policy dialogue with the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), as well as a $3.6 million technical assistance programme, co-funded by the EBRD and the GCF, to support the EETC in administering competitive renewable energy tenders.
The project has also benefited from broader energy-sector reforms supported by the AfDB in recent years to scale up the involvement of the private sector.
What the Kom Ombo partnership signals:
- The Kom Ombo plant will contribute to the Egyptian plan to generate 42 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2035
- To promote renewable energy in Egypt
- Increase the production of clean energy in Egypt
- Reduce carbon emissions and address climate change
- To ensure it delivers one of the lowest tariffs on the continent
