EBRD provides €182.9M loan to EETC

CAIRO - 26 November 2019: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided Tuesday a €182.9 million loan to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) to strengthen the transmission network in the country.

EBRD clarified that this loan aims to support the development of a more resilient and robust electricity grid across Egypt.

“Demand for electricity in Egypt is expected to grow significantly over the next 10 years due to economic growth. The project will address Egypt’s key challenge in reaching its strategic objective in the energy sector by expanding the country’s electricity transmission network,” the bank stated.

The EBRD fund will facilitate the integration of 1.3 GW of new renewable energy into the Egyptian electricity system by connecting new renewable energy plants, with the help of new or refurbished high-voltage substations. “In addition, the investment will help in reducing electricity losses, thus saving 77,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.”

EBRD added that it will also assist EETC and the electricity regulator in designing and structuring a regulatory framework for private-to-private projects, developing a new channel for the growth of the private renewable sector, which will further improve the sector’s competitiveness.

“This is linked to the electricity law that was passed in 2015, which sets out a roadmap for the liberalisation and reform of the power sector, driven by the government’s aim to generate 20 percent of Egypt’s energy from renewable sources by 2022,” the bank clarified.

According to EBRD, this project is also supported by the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Multi-Donor Account (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Taipei China and the United Kingdom) and is expected to be supported by the European Union through a €20 million grant.

EBRD announced earlier in November providing Suez Oil Processing Company (SOPC) a loan of $50 million to support the modernisation of Egypt’s oil industry by upgrading the oil refinery owned by SOPEC.

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations in Egypt in 2012, the bank has invested over €5.5 billion in 102 projects in the country. In 2018, Egypt was the largest economy where the EBRD invests, in terms of new commitments.