The Ministry of Electricity will offer tenders in the first quarter of 2018 to establish 500 MW solar power plants. Sources at the ministry told Daily News Egypt, on Thursday, that Arab and international companies presented their offers to the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) to establish 100-200 MW solar power plants, but investors were told to submit their bids as competitive tenders. The sources said that the tenders to be put forward will be through a Build, Own, Operate (BOO) scheme in Minya and Aswan. The total area of land owned by the NREA is estimated at 7,600 sqm, including 5,700 sqm allocated for wind farms. The area is enough to generate 35,000 MW, next to 1,950 sqm sufficient to generate 54,000 MW from solar power plants. The EETC has set a cap on the price for purchasing electrical power at 3.8 cents per kW, which is the same price agreed upon with Sky Power to establish 600 MW solar power plants. Head of the NREA Mohamed El-Khayat said that wind farms and solar power plants compete with traditional energy prices and contribute to development and easing the burden on the public treasury, noting that the state intends to increase the contribution of renewable energy sources to 20% of total energy. El-Khayat pointed out that the feed-in-tariff projects contributed to a significant leap in the field of renewable energy in Egypt, and that energy projects in Egypt are attractive to investments in the current and coming period. He added that the NREA is also contributing to 1.5m acre projects in six governorates, through providing the necessary technical support and studies to operate wells for land irrigation through solar plants.
