led consortium reaches financial close on 900 MW Egypt wind project

By Staff Writer

French energy company ENGIE and its partners Orascom Construction and Aeolus have reached financial close on the 900-megawatt (MW) Gulf of Suez 3 wind farm in Egypt, paving the way for full-scale construction.

Located near Ras Shokeir in the Gulf of Suez, the project is scheduled to enter full commercial operation in 2028, ENGIE said in a statement.

The wind farm will be connected to the electricity grid in three phases, with commissioning of the first 300 MW scheduled to begin in January 2028.

The project will be developed, owned and operated by Shokeir Wind Energy S.A.E., a special-purpose company owned by ENGIE (35 percent), Orascom Construction (25 percent) and Aeolus (40 percent). ENGIE is the lead developer of the project.

Project financing

The project has secured non-recourse financing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Proparco, Dutch development bank FMO, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and KfW IPEX-Bank.

Commercial lenders' financing benefits from insurance coverage provided by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).

HSBC Bank Egypt is acting as the working capital facility bank and onshore security agent.

The project is backed by a 25-year renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), whose obligations are guaranteed by Egypt's Ministry of Finance.

Land for the project has been made available by the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) under a 25-year usufruct agreement.

Orascom Construction will execute the entire balance-of-plant scope, including the on-site high-voltage substation.

Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind will supply, install and commission the wind turbines.

Renewable energy capacity

The wind farm is expected to generate approximately 4 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually.

Gulf of Suez 3 is the third wind farm developed by ENGIE and its partners in Egypt, following the 262.5 MW Ras Ghareb wind farm and the 650 MW Red Sea Wind Energy project.

Together, the three projects will have a combined installed capacity of approximately 1.81 gigawatts (GW).

Rik De Buyserie, VP Regional Transformation and Geographies AMEA, and CEO and Country Manager of ENGIE North Africa, said Gulf of Suez 3 would become ENGIE's largest onshore wind farm worldwide.

Mohamed Awni, CEO of ENGIE Egypt, said the project builds on the delivery of Ras Ghareb Wind Energy and Red Sea Wind Energy and reflects the company's ability to develop large-scale renewable energy projects in the country.

The statement did not disclose the total investment cost, debt financing amount or contract values.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by SA Kader)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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