One of Africa's largest wind farms to be built in the Gulf of Suez
A new 500 MW onshore wind farm in Egypt will become one of the largest wind farms in Africa.
As the demand for clean energy has been ramping up lately, numerous countries have showed their commitment in bolstering sustainable actions to fully support the cause. The Egyptian Government is willing to be up to date with the current needs, by increasing its positive impact. A significant number of projects has been launched in order to attain the sustainable energy goals set for the upcoming years, in particular the aim to reach 42% of renewable sources in the electricity mix by 2035, an important boost compared to the 5% overall in 2014.
Above all, the huge availability of land and a great variety of possibilities to leverage a sunny weather and high wind speeds all year long undoubtedly makes Egypt a key country to implement renewable energy projects.
Therefore, in the wake of the enormous success accomplished by Egypt’s first renewable energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) project completed in 2019, Gulf of Suez I – Ras Ghareb Wind Energy wind farm (262.5 MW), a brand-new 500 MW wind farm project is about to be launched by the same operators: the Gulf of Suez II – Red Sea Wind Energy wind farm. This project will also be located in the Ras Ghareb area in the Gulf of Suez, some 300 km southeast of Cairo and will be 50km north of the existing Gulf of Suez I and will involve the construction and installation of 84 wind turbines with a capacity of 6 MW each.
The Gulf of Suez Wind Farm II will be owned and operated by Red Sea Wind Energy S.A.E., whose ownerships belongs to Consortium of ENGIE, Orascom Construction, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation. With a total capacity of 500 MW, the facility which, set to be delivered by 2025 will have an average annual production capacity of more than 2,300 GWh and will permit more than 800,000 Egyptian homes to have access to clean and sustainable power.
Introduced as part of the Nexus of Water-Food-Energy (NWFE) program, an initiative presented in the first place at COP27 in November 2022 by the Egyptian Government to accelerate the shift, this trailblazing project will address the needs of the government of contributing to energy transition and decarbonisation. It is also likely to decrease Egypt’s CO2 emissions by approximately 1 million tons annually. Furthermore, it will not only assure a positive impact from an environmental point of view, but also from a social one since it will ensure more than a thousand new job opportunities for its construction and its services.
Through this project, ENGIE, Orascom Construction, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation are displaying their dedication in supporting the Egyptian Government in their journey towards a low-carbon economy. This massive project will additionally embody one of the largest onshore wind farms within ENGIE, Orascom Construction, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation’s portfolio and including for Egypt.
Societe Generale acted as Mandated Lead Arranger, Lender, Documentation Bank, Technical Bank and Hedging Bank in the financing of this project. It was the sole European commercial bank alongside Japanese commercial banks, Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
For Societe Generale, this transaction perfectly fits into the Grow With Africa initiative, and more specifically the financing of new access to renewable energy (mainly solar but also hydraulic, wind, biomass).
We really appreciate the contribution of Societe Generale to our 2 wind power projects in Egypt with total capacity over 750MW. They acted as technical bank, documentation bank and swap coordinator for both projects. Societe Generale has successfully led and coordinated the due diligence of various senior lenders consisting of ECA, DFI and commercial banks.
After the success of Gulf of Suez I, we are extremely grateful to have been able to accompany our key clients once again on such a major and impactful transaction. This project will certainly advance a fundamental shift away from Egypt’s reliance on hydrocarbons, create new employment opportunities and avoid CO2 emissions.
Engie is proud to have reached Financial Close of such a landmark project. We are grateful to the professionalism of the parties involved and the key role that Société Générale has played in building a strong project financing with highly reputed financial institutions. This is even more remarkable when considering the technical nature of the project, the level of structuring involved in getting such a complex transaction to execution with EBRD, JBIC and NEXI in particular during adverse market conditions.