EBRD provides $36mn loan towards Kom Ombo solar plant project in southern Egypt

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) joined OPEC Fund for International Development, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank to sign a $114mn financing package with ACWA Power for the construction a 200-MW solar plant in Kom Ombo in southern Egypt.

The package comprises loans of up to $36mn from the EBRD, $18mn from the OPEC Fund, $17.8mn from the AfDB, $23.8mn from the GCF and $18mn from Arab Bank. This is in addition to equity bridge loans of up to $14mn from EBRD and $33.5mn from Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).

The new Kom Ombo plant will be located less than 20 km from Africa’s biggest solar park, the 1.8-GW Benban complex. Once operational, the new utility-scale plant will serve 130,000 households.

ACWA Power submitted the lowest tariff in what was the first solar photovoltaic (PV) tender in Egypt. The provision of solar energy through a public tendering process aims to achieve a competitive tariff and promote the growth of solar energy as an affordable alternative to conventional energy sources.