• The facility is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by around one million tonnes per year.
• It is the first EBRD project under the NWFE programme.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated a senior secured loan of up to $100 million to Red Sea Wind Energy to support Egypt’s green transition. The loan is expected to sponsor the development, construction, and operation of a new 500-megawatt onshore wind farm in the Gulf of Suez area.

The loan is made up of a part for Red Sea Wind Energy of up to $50 million from the EBRD and a portion for Red Sea Wind Energy of up to $50 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This is the first project that the Japan Bank for International Cooperation has co-funded with those Japanese organizations. The loan is being co-financed by private commercial banks that are insured by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.

Owned by a consortium of sponsors that include Engie, Orascom Construction, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and Eurus Energy, Red Sea Wind Energy is a joint-stock company incorporated in Egypt. 

According to EBRD, the private wind farm is the third in Egypt and is expected to be the largest in Africa. The facility will help reduce about one million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to taking about 217,000 cars off the road. Over a span of 25 years, the energy generated will be sold to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).

The wind farm will be one of the first to be constructed under the Energy Pillar of Egypt’s Country Platform for the Nexus on Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) programme which was launched by the Government of Egypt at COP27 with several organizations, involving EBRD as the lead development partner for the Energy Pillar. It is the first move in establishing an additional 10 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity between 2023 and 2028, which will help the country attain its renewable energy target.

Founded in 1991, the EBRD is an international financial body and a multilateral development investment bank that uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Egypt joined that institution as a founding member and EBRD has invested about 10.2 billion euros in 162 projects.