Egypt - 26 international companies attracted by wind farm bid

A total of 26 international companies have expressed interest in a tender to build a 250-megawatt wind farm on Egypt's east coast. The companies have all asked to buy the booklet of conditions for the tender, the agency said, without naming them.

Egypt announced the tender for the wind farm on a build-operate-own (BOO) basis on May 9. Firms were invited to submit qualification documents by July 21 for short-listing.

The project developer would be required to design, finance, construct, own and operate the power plant for 20 to 25 years, and would sell the power produced during that period to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company.

Egypt, which is a gas and oil producer, has been developing wind power along its Red Sea coast in the east of the country. It aims to generate 12 percent of its power from wind farms and a total of 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020.

Officials say Egypt's combined oil and gas reserves will last the most populous Arab country for roughly three more decades, pushing the drive for more reliance on renewable energy.

Egypt already has farms at Zafarana and Hurghada on the Red Sea coast. It has also said it wants to build several civilian nuclear power stations to help avoid an energy crunch

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net