The Red Sea Wind Energy S.A.E. is set to receive a loan worth US$ $50M from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the construction of the proposed 500 MW Gulf of Suez II wind farm in Gulf of Suez, Egypt.
The loan will be used for the construction, commissioning, and operation of the wind power project, sitting on an area of approximately 70 km², about 40 km northwest of the city of Ras Ghareb and operating 173 wind turbines. The project will also include the construction of a 33/220 kV substation.
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The project is expected to start the construction works in the fourth quarter of this year after achieving financial close and is scheduled to reach commercial operation after 29 months of construction.
Impact of the Gulf of Suez II wind power project
The 500Mw Gulf of Suez II wind farm will contribute to increasing energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible, and mostly import-independent energy resource. The expected electricity generation from the Gulf of Suez II wind power project will serve the annual electricity needs of more than 800,000 local households.
Furthermore, the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as air pollutant emissions through the reduction of overreliance on conventional ways of producing electricity such as liquid fuels. The project is likely to displace more than 1 million metric tons of CO2 per year.
More importantly, the project will contribute to the government’s ambition to produce 20% of the country’s electricity from clean sources by 2022 and 42% by 2035.
About the Red Sea Wind Energy S.A.E
The Red Sea Wind Energy S.A.E is a joint venture company created this year by ENGIE from France, Toyota Tsusho Corporation & Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation, both from Japan and Orascom Construction from Egypt, to oversee the construction, commissioning and operation of the wind farm in question.