ib vogt breaks ground on 166,5 MWp solar power in the second round of Egypt’s FiT programme

Project developer, investor and acting EPC contractor ib vogt has begun the construction of a portfolio of three solar power plants with a joint total capacity of 166.5 MWp, awarded under the second round of Egypt’s Feed-in Tariff (FiT) programme. These are the first plants to begin construction in this round. Construction of two of the solar power plants started at the end of January 2018 and building of a third plant will begin at the end of February 2018. The three projects extend over a total area of 270 ha, on which approximately 500,000 solar modules will be mounted on horizontal tracking systems. When the projects are completed in early 2019, over 400,000 MWh of electricity will be produced each year – enough to supply approximately 55,000 homes and save 178,000 t of CO₂ emissions annually. Once connected to the grid, the solar power generated by these installations will be supplied to the state-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) on the basis of a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

“Following the successful construction and energisation of our 64 MWp Round 1 project in Egypt we are pleased to announce the commencement of the build-out of our next 3 plants in this series and are proud that these are the first of the Round 2 projects. We – together with our local partners – have demonstrated our strong capabilities to manage the complex issues in building these projects in Egypt, incorporating all stakeholder, local community and local specific requirements to deliver the projects. We would like to thank all of our partners, stakeholders, authorities and the community of Benban for their strong support and look forward to contributing to the success on the important Round 2 programme in Egypt.” says Anton Milner, Managing Director of ib vogt GmbH. 

Including the operational round one project our overall portfolio within the Benban solar development complex will total 230.6 MWp. At 1.8 GWp this solar power complex, located 650 km south of Cairo in the Aswan Governorate near the village of Benban, will be one of the world’s largest solar complexes and is a crucial part of Egypt’s plan to meet 20 per cent of its electricity demand through renewable energies by 2022.

The project partners – an international conglomerate consisting of ib vogt, Infinity Solar, Phoenix Energy and BPE Partners – achieved financial close at the end of October. Debt financing amounting to USD 146 Million was secured for these projects. For the “BSEP 50” and “MMID 30” installations financing has been provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the CDC Group provided the financing for the “Phoenix 50” project.

ib vogt is acting as EPC and operation and maintenance (O&M) contractor for these projects.