Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) has recovered the lands given to five companies for solar energy projects in Banban and Aswan, said a report.

These companies had withdrawn from implementing the project.

A total of 5-sq-km of land has been recovered from Abdul Latif Jameel Company, Enel Green Power, Cairo Solar, Orascom Telecom, and Triangle, added the Egypt Daily News report.

These companies were expected to launch solar power plants in Banban as part of the feed-in tariff project, it said.

Moreover, sources added that the NREA will pay the dues of the five companies next week. Each company provided a letter of guarantee worth $750,000 for the lands, in addition to EGP16,500 ($992.96) for the roads and traffic infrastructure works.

Sources explained that last week, representatives of the five companies completed the delivery of the lands in Aswan, similar to the process that took place when they received the lands straight after signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) to utilise them for the implementation of the projects.

The sources noted that the five companies obtained their dues from the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) regarding the agreement to split costs and the projects’ letters of guarantee.

Nine companies have withdrawn from the implementation of the feed-in-tariff projects, including Italian Enel Green, French Neon, Saudi Arabian Abdul Latif Jameel, Egyptian Cairo Solar, Spanish Dama, Canadian Solar, Innovation Unlimited Egypt, Emirati Adenium, and Egyptian Orascom Telecom.