Electricity Ministry to inaugurate wind power plant by end of June

CAIRO – 24 June 2018: The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy will inaugurate the world’s largest assembly of wind turbines in Gabal El-zeit in the Red Sea governorate by the end of this month, with a total cost of LE 12 billion ($670.64 million).

The wind power plant in Gabal El-Zeit consists of three projects, including 390 wind turbines, with a capacity of 580 megawatts (MW).

“Gabal El-Zeit power plant is the largest station in the world in terms of area, number of turbines and capacities generated from the plant,” Manager of the plant Osama Noman said.

Noman added that the total number of turbines in the plant reached 300 turbines in the three projects, noting that the first completed project contains 120 turbines with a capacity of 240 MW.

He said that the second completed project includes 110 turbines with a capacity of 220 MW, clarifying that 460MV have been linked to the national electricity network so far.

The third project includes 60 turbines with a capacity of 120 MW and is still under construction, Noman added.

“The site of Gabal El-Zeit plant is one of the best sites in the world to invest in generating wind power projects,” Noman stated.

He clarified that the wind speed at the site reaches 12 meters per second and sometimes records 33 meters per second, noting that the ground is straight with no curves or rocks.

Egypt’s national strategy targets to bring the contribution of electricity from renewable energy to 20 percent by 2022.

On June 12, Egypt cut its electricity subsidies, raising prices by an average of 26 percent in the 2018-2019 fiscal year beginning July.

According to Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker, the overall increase does not exceed 26 percent, while the average hikes in bills for households amount to 24 percent.
The minister also affirmed that the new hikes save the country from potential losses that might reach LE 109 billion.

He added that users of the first bracket of the housing use segment only bear 18 percent of the total cost of the bill; as they pay LE 12 while the actual bill costs LE 65.

Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

The country has floated its currency in November 2016 before it clinched a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF loan helped the state’s foreign reserves to rebound by receiving the first three tranches of the loan with a total value of $6.08 billion.