ACWA Power today announced the signing of a $123 million financing package to develop the 200 MW Kom Ombo project, a large-scale solar power plant in Egypt.
Financing institutions for this project include many entities, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the AfDB Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP) and the Arab Bank.
The solar power plant of Kom Ombo will serve 130,000 households
The Kom Ombo plant will be located less than 20 kilometers from Africa’s largest solar park, the 1,465 MW Benban complex – another ACWA Power development – and is expected to be commercially operational in January 2024. Once fully operational, the new large-scale plant will serve 130,000 homes.
Although the financing documentation was initially signed in April 2021 with the EBRD, OPEC Fund, Green Climate Fund (GCF), African Development Bank (AfDB), and Arab Bank, the dynamics in global supply chains due to Covid19 have changed the dynamics for solar power plant development. This led to an extension of the Kom Ombo project.
Private sector participation in this project
Private sector participation in the Kom Ombo project is the result of a successful policy dialogue with the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), as well as a $3.6 million technical assistance program, co-financed by the EBRD and the GCF, to support the EETC in administering competitive tenders for renewable energy.
In addition, the project has also benefited from broader energy sector reforms supported by the AfDB in recent years to increase private sector participation. The Kom Ombo plant will contribute to the Egyptian government’s goal of generating 42% of the country’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2035, while offering one of the lowest generation tariffs in Africa.
