Egypt to Start Building $11 Billion Wind Farm Serving Saudi Arabia
https://www.leaders-mena.com/egyptian-electricity-minister-stresses-the-importance-of-the-electrical-connection-between-egypt-saudi-arabia/The Egyptian Cabinet announced that Egypt is building one of the largest wind farms in the world, at a cost of $11 billion. It will serve Saudi Arabia.
The Information and Decision Support Center of the Egyptian Cabinet published a new infographic that includes the most important information about Egypt’s construction of one of the largest wind farms in the world, according to one of the agreements concluded by Egypt, represented by the Infinity Company, with the Emirati Company, Masdar, during the activities of the COP27 climate summit.
Work on the wind farm will begin in 2024 and is supposed to be completed in 2030 at a cost of $11 billion and a production capacity of 10 gigawatts, equivalent to one-fifth of what the UK currently has of all forms of renewable energy.
Sabah Mashaly, head of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company, revealed that the electrical interconnection line between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has many advantages other than the exchange of 3,000 megawatts between the two countries, the most important of which is allowing Egypt to connect with the Gulf States.
During the Al-Ahram Economic Conference, Mashaly explained that among the technical advantages of the electrical interconnection project with Saudi Arabia is the availability of 3000 megawatts on the Egyptian network at peak time as an alternative to establishing new power plants that cost the state billions of pounds, explaining that this project is considered the largest in the region.
Mashaly indicated that the wind farm project includes 3 packages the first includes 300 km on the DC system to overcome the voltage difference in Egypt and 900 km in Saudi Arabia. The second package includes the construction of the Badr transformer station, one station in Egypt, and two stations in Saudi Arabia. The third package includes the submarine cable divided equally between the two sides.
Mashaly said that the total cost of the wind farm project amounts to one billion and 800 million dollars, which will be divided between the Egyptian and Saudi sides, pointing out that the first phase will be operated on the first of May 2025 with a capacity of 1,500, and the project will be fully operational by the end of the same year.
