The construction of mega solar power plant in Egypt has kicked off. The project is being spearheaded by global consortium of engineering and renewable industry giants.
The USD3.5b project project that kicked off early this week is expected to produce 2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity upon completion. This is according to Terra Solar the power plant will be key to the power supply in Egypt which has been facing a lot of challenges in the last few months.
Terra solar officials also added that they are looking into constructing 200 MW PV module and inverter manufacturing facility to create components for use in the consortium’s own solar plants and for exportation.
The Terra solar is a consortium of Bahrain-based Terra Sola Ventures, Swiss wealth management company Terra Nex, RWE New Energy, Hareon Solar Technologies, and a number of German tech companies including LTi ReEnergy. Terra Nex will manage project financing, largely through German investors. Hareon will supply the solar modules, and RWE will operate and maintain the plants.
The project was started after a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2015 that paved way for TERRA solar to get into agreement with state-run Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) to develop a solar project.
This week’s announcement was coincidental with a state visit by the German deputy Chancellor, during which time the consortium’s Board of Directors visited Luxor and Aswan governorates to check prospective locations for three of the plants. Terra Sola has set up an Egyptian office to better coordinate with government entities, and to serve as project headquarters.
In a statement, Board Member Peter Göpfrich said that Egypt is one of Africa and the Middle East’s most active and growing markets.