Egypt's Ministry of Electricity has signed seven binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) worth $500 million in solar and wind projects under the government's Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) programme. The signing ceremony took place during the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA) Trade Mission in Cairo on April 27-28. This forum brought together 150 local and international investorsand project developers to explore investment opportunities in Egypt's solar and wind sector. The MOUs were signed with companies from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. There were 5 agreements signed for solar projects totaling 220MW and 2 wind projects totaling 100MW (see table below). All 7 projects are located on government land. The solar projects are in Binban, Aswan; the wind farms are in Zafarana on the Gulf of Suez. During the Egypt Economic Conference in March 2015 there were 4 similar solar MOUs signed, bringing the total number of solar projects in Binban to 9. Considering that there are only 36 government plots for solar projects in Binban this means that 25% of the available plots have now been allocated. "These MOUs reflects the willingness of local and international companies to be active partners in the sustainable energy future of Egypt," said Dr. Mohamed El Sobki, Executive Chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA). "We are confident that the remaining plots will be scooped up soon." "MESIA is delighted to have hosted this landmark signing ceremony between the government and the private sector. We shall continue to support Egypt's efforts to establish one of the largest and fastest growing renewable energy markets in the world," said Vahid Fotuhi, President and Founder of MESIA.
