New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), the Egyptian government agency responsible for the promotion and development of northern renewable energy projects recently issued a tender for the operation and maintenance of the 220 MW Gabel El-Zeit wind power plant in the Gulf of Suez, for a period of five years.
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Interested parties are expected to submit their bids for the Gabel El-Zeit wind power plant, which include two sealed envelopes, covering previous experience and the technical offer, on or before the 11th of October this year when the session to open the technical envelopes will be held.
To date, several local and international companies including Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, Voltalia, Free Energy, China Energy, and Orascom have already expressed their interest in the project by buying the bid requirements booklet put forward by the authority.
Intentions to establish a subsidiary company to maintain and operate wind projects across Egypt
The NREA had previously announced its intention to establish a subsidiary company to maintain and operate wind projects across Egypt. However, the decision was canceled due to the high costs it entailed, and the lack of full experience. Therefore, it preferred to offer a tender and choose a company to undertake the operation and maintenance for a particular period.
It has also considered inviting an investor to establish the company themselves, which the investor would fully own. The investor would maintain the authority’s stations through a contract between the two parties for a period of five to 10 years, provided that the investor outlines a value for operating and maintaining the projects.
The NREA owns three wind stations in Egypt, the first one being the 550 MW capacity station located in Zaafarana that includes about 700 turbines of different capacities. The second is Gabal El-Zeit 1 with a capacity of 240 MW and 120 turbines, and the third is Gabal El-Zeit 2 with a capacity of 220 MW and 110 turbines.
