The Egyptian government is now set to construct one of the largest solar power plant in Africa after receiving $89m loan from Japan. The 20MW Solar power plant in Egypt with the capacity storage of 30 MW will be constructed close to Egyptian city of Hurghada.
The project will comprise a 20 MW solar PV plant and a 30 MW storage facility, which will utilize several different types of battery technology, including lithium-ion and sodium-sulfur batteries.
The project will be one of kind since there no other big project that is capable of producing over 20 MW of power is available in Egypt.
For its part, Egypt’s government will hold a public tender for the project exclusively for Japanese companies that have demonstrable battery technologies ready to go.
Sumitomo Electric Industries and NGK insulators are two such companies that are expected to vie for contracts, thus opening the floodgates for more Japanese investment in the growing MENA region.
According to the officials, they have a written agreement on the project and will be sighned by early next week as the Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi visits Japan to finalise the discussion on how the project will be carried.
Sissi is expected also to close more power deals when he vists Japana as the country eyes at producing more power for the steady risng population and demand for more power.
Construction costs are expected to reach $92 million. However the two governments have established a low interest payback rate for the loan. Japan’s government has been eager to encourage its domestic companies to explore business opportunities in new and emerging markets.