Cairo - Mubasher: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has granted a $10 million financing package to TAQA Arabia to enable the company to expand its renewable energy businesses in the private sector.
As part of the package, the EBRD has provided an initial $4.2 million loan to TAQA PV for Solar Energy, TAQA Arabia’s renewable energy subsidiary, to support one of the first green private-to-private projects in Egypt, according to a press release on Thursday.
The loan will finance the construction and operation of a 6 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant located at Dina Farms in Beheira, enabling Africa's largest dairy farm to cover part of its energy consumption with clean energy.
TAQA PV for Solar Energy will sell all of the produced energy to Dina Farms under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The plant is the first private-to-private renewable energy project financed by the EBRD in Egypt.
The EBRD Managing Director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, Heike Harmgart, said: "Private energy solution providers such as TAQA Arabia have a key role to play in supporting Egypt's ongoing energy sector transition and liberalisation."
TAQA Arabia’s CEO, Pakinam Kafafi, commented: "I am thrilled about TAQA and the EBRD’s partnership in the development of such a great sustainable project and the launch of one of the first private-to-private renewable energy projects in Egypt."
Up to date, the EBRD has invested over EUR 7 billion in 125 projects in Egypt in several areas, including the financial sector, agribusiness, manufacturing, and services, as well as infrastructure projects such as in the power sector, municipal water, and wastewater services.
