The wind farm will help Egypt cut an estimated $5 billion in annual natural gas costs, creating as many as 100k jobs
Egypt and the UAE have inked an agreement to develop one of the world's largest wind farms in Egypt, signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of COP27 yesterday.
The 10-gigawatt (GW) onshore wind project is expected to produce around 48k GWh of clean energy annually, offsetting around 23.8 million tons of CO2 emissions - equivalent to about 9% of Egypt's current CO2 output, explained UAE’s state news agency.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan attended the signing between the UAE's Masdar renewable energy firm and Egypt's Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities.
The wind farm will help Egypt cut an estimated $5 billion in annual natural gas costs, creating as many as 100k jobs.
Direct employment in the construction phase is estimated at around 30k, with as many as 70k people being employed indirectly. After construction, around 3.2k jobs will be added for operation and maintenance.
The project will be part of Egypt’s Green Corridor initiative – a grid dedicated to renewable energy projects – and will contribute to Egypt’s goal of ensuring renewable energy makes up 42% of its energy mix by 2035.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Special Envoy for Climate, and Chairman of Masdar, and Sabah Meshaly, chairwoman of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).
This will be the second major wind farm to make news in the last couple of days, with the IFC considering a $83 million loan to an Emirati-Japanese consortium for a planned 500-megawatt wind farm in Ras Ghareb.
