UK contributes $97M to IFC-led solar plants financing schemes

CAIRO – 30 October 2017: The UK’s government-owned development finance institution CDC Group announced investing $97 million in Egypt’s huge solar power project in Aswan, the British Embassy in Cairo declared in a Monday statement.

CDC Group’s participation comes through a financing consortium led by the International Financial Corporation (IFC), which injects $653 million into 13 solar power plants in the Nubian Suns project, located in Benban city of Aswan.

The Nubian Suns project will comprise 32 solar plants producing 1.8 gigawatts.

“I am proud the UK is investing in a project that will provide clean power to over 350,000 residential customers and generate up to 6,000 jobs,” UK Ambassador to Egypt John Casson said in the statement.

These funds are pledged for the feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme which was announced by the government in September 2014. The scheme will involve private sector companies to build solar plants in Aswan, Minya and Hurghada.

The plan set by Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker eyes generating 20 percent of Egypt’s energy supply from renewable energy resources by 2022.