The government of Egypt has awarded a contract, through the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), for implementation of consultancy and supervision services of a 50MW solar power plant in Zafarana.
According to NREA Chairperson, Mohamed El-Khayat, the contract was awarded to a German company called INTEC Engineering GmbH, after its technical and financial offers outperformed other bids in the tender put forward by the authority.
INTEC will carry out consultancy services and supervise the implementation of the photovoltaic cell plant in Zafarana.
Selection of the project’s contractor
Mohamed El-Khayat further mentioned that German Development Bank (KfW), which is funding the project through a loan of US $54.91m, is currently finishing the technical and financial analysis for the selection of the contractor.
“So far three companies, including Belectric, NARI Group Corporation, and Vikram Solar, technically qualified whereas two companies were excluded, one for technical reasons and the other withdrew willingly. We expect the whole selection process to be done by December, latest.”
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Expectations for the project
The Zafarana solar power plant project is expected to start production and operation in the fourth quarter of next year.
It is projected to produce approximately 90 million kW/h a year, which translates to about 18,000 tonnes savings of oil annually, and at the same time reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 50,000 tonnes.
The Zafarana plant is the second project executed by the NREA in the framework of its plan to expand the mix of renewable energy projects which currently stand at a total of 5,425MW installed capacity, including 1,375MW of wind power, 1,220MW of photovoltaic cell systems, and 2,830MW of hydro power; all of which were realized through government agreements and projects by the private sector.
