Tender for 600 MW solar projects released in Egypt
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Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) have released a tender for 600 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity.
The projects will be developed under a build, own, operate (BOO) scheme and will be located in the West of Nile area.
Through a request for prequalification, issued last week, EETC is seeking experienced developers and investors to design, finance, construct, own and operate the capacity. The electricity generated will be purchased by EETC under a power purchase agreement (PPA). Project land ownership will be transferred to the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) at the end of the project duration, 25 years.
The tender is open to local and foreign participants who have built three PV power plants of at least 100 MW each. Bidders are also required to submit audited financial statements for the last three years.
The deadline for submitting prequalification documents is January 14, 2018. To find out more information about the tender, see the Business Opportunity.
This is the first tender for the development of solar parks in Egypt outside of the feed-in tariffs (FIT) scheme, which expired on 27 October 2017. The Egyptian government is now looking to develop solar projects through a net metering scheme.
Under the three-year FIT scheme, around 2 GW of PV capacity was allocated. Many of these projects were stalled for a long time, but have recently reached financial close. This is due to significant revisions to the program made by the government in September.
Thus, there is great potential for solar power in Egypt. In October, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development identified 16 new solar projects in Egypt, with a cumulative capacity of 750 MW to receive financing, while the International Finance Corp said it was supporting the development of a further 13 solar parks.
This Egyptian government aims to generate 20% of the nation’s electricity from clean sources by 2022.
