ACWA Power awards $190m EPC contract for three PV projects in Egypt

ACWA Power signs EPC contract with Chinas Chint Group for three solar photovoltaic power plants in Egypt during WFES 2018.

ACWA Power has awarded an EPC contract to China’s Chint Group for three solar photovoltaic power plants in Benban, Egypt.

The contract will be part the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) programme and has a total investment value of $190m. It was signed during the World Future Energy Summit at Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Combined, the projects will generate a total of 165.5 MWp and contribute to Egypt’s target of obtaining 20% of energy requirements from renewable sources by 2022.

Located in the Aswan Province at Benban, the plants will have a capacity to generate 67.5 MWp, 70 MWp and 28 MWp as individual projects.

Construction on the projects will begin in the first quarter of 2018, beginning operations by the end of the year.

Upon completion, the plants will power 80,000 houses a year and will save 156,000 tons of CO2annually.

Paddy Padmanathan, president and CEO of ACWA Power, said: “Award of this contract triggers the engineering, procurement and Construction of these three plants which also represent our first investment in Egypt.

“We are confident of our partner Chint Group delivering the plants to the highest quality and in a timely manner without compromising health, safety and environmental impact.

“We are excited to have entered the Egyptian power market through what we look forward to as the first three of many more assets to be developed in future.”

With power demand in Egypt having grown by 28% in recent years, the Benban photovoltaic facility will be a key component of the government’s efforts to meet the country’s increasing energy needs through renewable resources in addition to supporting Egypt Vision 2022 and 2030.