Egypt to seek tenders for Gulf of Suez windfarm

Monday, Jun 28, 2010

Egypt will launch within days a tender compeition to choose firms to build a 1,000 mega-watt wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, its electricity minister said.

The power plant will be constructed on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes said in a statement, without providing further details.

Egypt's El Sewedy Cables is likely to bid for the project, CI Capital said in a note on Sunday. It was shortlisted among other companies in Egypt's last wind farm tendering.

"We believe that management will surely apply in this wind bid," the investment bank said.

Sewedy, the largest Arab cable maker by market value, said in March it was looking to supply wind energy projects in Egypt, the Middle East and African markets to tap growing demand and suitable climates.

Shares in Sewedy rose 4 percent on Sunday, while Egypt's benchmark index fell 0.3 percent.

Egypt has been developing windpower along its eastern Red Sea coast with wind farms at Zafarana and Hurghada and an installed capacity so far of 500 megawatts but it expects to see its wind power capacity reach 7,200 megawatts by 2020.

Egypt also aims to generate 12 percent of its power from wind farms out of a total of 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020 and is seeking to attract $110 billion in investments in its energy sector by 2027.

Younes said in November the ministry qualified 10 firms to build a 250-megawatt wind farm on its east coast, the country's first privately owned wind farm.

Source: Interactive Investor