The government of Egypt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop desalination plants that will be powered using renewable energy sources, including solar and wind.
The MoU was signed with Ministry of Housing, Utilities & Urban Communities represented by the New Urban Communities Authority; Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW), Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy represented by the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and ACWA Power.
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Project details
The agreement will see ACWA conducting preliminary and feasibility studies for the series of water desalination projects. Upon completion, the studies will be submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, Urban Communities and the Egyptian Electricity Holding to determine next steps on the projects based on the final results.
The projects will be powered by solar and wind, or a combination of both renewable energy sources. The government of Egypt launched a feed-in tariff support system in 2014 for solar PV and wind projects to boost renewable energy production.
The country selected ACWA Power as the partner of choice following the company’s proven track record in developing water desalination projects and renewable energy power plants that span global geographies.
In Egypt, ACWA Power currently leads on a number of renewable energy projects including: Benban PV IPP in Aswan, with a production capacity of 120 MW and total investment of US $190m; and Kom Ombo PV with a production capacity of 200 MW. On the traditional energy front, ACWA Power is working on a combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Luxor which will produce 2250 MW at a cost of over US $2bn.
