The installation of the first wind turbine fins at the West Bakr wind farm project located 30 km north-west of the town of Ras el Ghareb in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, has commenced approximately eight months after the ground-breaking ceremony for the project. This operation was launched on October 21st, 2020 by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA formerly known as Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica S.A. and Grupo Auxiliar Metalúrgico S.A. The latter is a Spanish-German wind engineering company that manufactures wind turbines and provides onshore and offshore wind services.
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Apart from manufacturing and delivering a total of up to 96 SG 2.6-114 wind turbine units for the West Bakr wind farm project, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA is also responsible for the construction of the wind farm under an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract signed with the project developer, Lekela Power.
Once online expectedly sometime next year, the 250 MW West Bakr will increase the North African country wind power capacity by 18% and generate enough power to meet the consumption needs of over 350,000 households.
Financing for the project
The West Bakr wind project is entirely financed by Lekela Power to the tune of about US$ 252M. The Africa-focused renewable energy company raised the funds in form of loans from several investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the former Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which merged in December 2019 with the Development Credit Authority (DCA).
The loans will be repaid through the sale of electricity generated by the plant within the framework of the 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed by Lekela power with the Egyptian public power transmission company (EETC).
