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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Funding secured for Africa’s largest onshore wind project
8/1/2025
News
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has arranged a syndicated loan worth $275mn for Suez Wind’s planned 1.1 GW wind farm in Egypt. Once commissioned in 2026 it will be the largest onshore wind farm in Africa.
The syndicated loan consists of a $200mn A loan from the EBRD and $75mn in B loans from Arab Bank and Standard Chartered. The project is being co-financed by the African Development Bank (which announced approval of a $170mn loan in December), British International Investment, Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation.
Located in the Suez Gulf and Gabal El Zeit province near Ras Gharib city, the wind farm will be divided into two sites, each with a capacity of 550 MW. It is expected to generate more than 4,300 GWh of electricity annually and reduce annual CO2 emissions by more than 2.2mn tonnes. The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) will be the sole off-taker under a 25-year take-or-pay power purchase agreement (PPA).
The EBRD is the leading development partner in the energy pillar of Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food & Energy (NWFE) programme, which was unveiled at COP27. The Suez Wind development is one of the first projects to be developed under the initiative, which aims to retire 5 GW of inefficient fossil-fuel capacity by 2025, invest in a just transition and accelerate Egypt’s renewable development, including at least 10 GW of solar and wind energy by 2028.
Suez Wind is jointly owned by ACWA Power and HAU Energy.
Egypt is aiming to derive 42% of its energy mix from renewable sources by 2030, in line with the country’s nationally determined contributions. According to Rania A Al-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, and the EBRD Governor for Egypt, blended finance packages such as that with the EBRD have attracted private-sector investments in renewable energy, with some 4.7 GW of projects having secured funding to date.
According to the Energy Institute’s 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy, wind generated 5.7 TWh (or 23%) of Egypt’s renewable electricity in 2023, from an installed wind turbine capacity of 1,890 MW. Solar accounted for 5.2 TWh, with 1,856 MW of installed capacity. Renewables as a whole (including hydro, at 13.8 TWh) contributed 24.8 TWh of Egypt’s electricity generation in 2023, 5% of the country’s total generation, with natural gas accounting for the lion’s share at 178.7 TWh (81.2%).
