Egyptian Consortium pumps $37M in Benban project

CAIRO – 5 May 2019: The only Egyptian consortium involved in Benban project, injected about $37 million into the $2 billion project, according to Head of an Egyptian company participating in the project and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce Khaled Abu Bakr.

He also said that the president of the World Bank had met with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to discuss the relationship between the bank and Egypt prior to his visit to the project.

Abu Bakr added that a total of 32 international companies are working to complete the project and deliver the energy produced by the Ministry of Electricity, which handles the issue of pricing.

"We are pumping about 50 megawatts of electricity into the national grid and we are one of the first companies to establish its own plant. We are delighted to be selected by the World Bank as the best project in the world," said Khalid Abu Bakr.

The project is considered the largest solar power project in the world and was funded by the World Bank with a total value of $653 million. The total value of the project is $2 billion for total power generation of up to 1600 megawatts, with the participation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a large number of major international companies.

In April, Head of Projects Sector, Upper Egypt, at the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company Ahmed Fathy announced the completion of linking 19 solar plants from Benban Solar plant to the national grid with a capacity of 920 Megawatts (MW), adding that the total number of stations to be established is 32 stations with a capacity of 1465 MW.

The project targets to contribute to Egypt’s energy self-sufficiency. It is set to generate the equivalent of 90 percent of the energy produced by Aswan’s High Dam.