Lekela, a leading renewable power generation company, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and Egypt’s Minister of Energy to develop a 250MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez.

The project forms part of the Egyptian Government’s Build, Own, Operate (BOO) framework, and is situated approximately 30 km North-West of Ras Ghareb. The location benefits from a strong wind resource which will deliver high capacity factors and allow the wind farm to sell competitively priced power to its customer, EETC.

Demand for electricity in Egypt is growing at 6 per cent per year and is predicted to continue to grow at this rate for the next decade. Currently, 86 per cent of Egyptian power generation is from gas-fired power plants and there is therefore an incentive for Egypt to draw on its diverse natural resources and move towards more renewable generation.

Extensive environmental and technical studies have already been carried out on the site, generating positive results. The next stage of the project, financial close followed by the commencement of construction, is expected to take place in 2018.

“The initialling of the PPA marks an important step for Lekela and its partners. This is part of our long-term strategic plan to deliver renewable energy to Egypt and support the diversification of its generation capacity at a highly competitive price,” said Chris Antonopoulos, chief executive officer of Lekela.

“Our progress in Egypt mirrors our development efforts across the African market. Generating clean, renewable and competitively priced power continues to be a priority in many countries across the continent and we are looking forward to further announcements in South Africa, Ghana and Senegal in due course,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service