The United Arab of Emirates and Egypt have signed an agreement to establish an over US$10 million-worth wind farm project in Egypt, according to media reports.

The agreement was signed between UAE’s Masdar, Infinity Power (Africa’s largest renewable energy developer), and Hassan Allam Utilities, a sustainable infrastructure-focused investment platform, to offer land to establish the wind farm project.

The project is set to be one of the largest wind farms in the world with a capacity of 10 gigawatt.

The wind project will produce 47,790 GWh of clean energy annually and reduce around 9 percent of Egypt’s annual carbon emissions by displacing 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.  

The wind farm will also help Egypt meet its strategic objective of sourcing 42 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030. 

The 10GW plant will save the North African nation an estimated $5 billion in natural gas costs a year.

The original agreement to develop the 10GW wind farm was signed between Masdar, Hassan Allam Utilities and Infinity Power, and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission company and witnessed by the presidents of the UAE and Egypt on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference, COP27, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt last year.

Masdar’s role demonstrates its deep and lasting commitment to supporting African nations such as Egypt to meet their ambitious renewable energy objectives. 

Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Chairman of Masdar and COP28 President-Designate, said: “This 10GW onshore wind project is set to be one of the largest wind farms in the world, and largest on the African continent. 

“It is a sign of the strong partnership between the UAE and Egypt, with great potential to create jobs, cut emissions, and power homes with clean electricity at competitive economical costs.  

“The world needs to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Projects like these will support the global efforts to reduce the impact of climate change and help keep the ambition of 1.5 intact while enabling significant socio-economic growth. The UAE looks forward to hosting COP28, we continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Global South in their efforts to decarbonize and secure a just energy transition,” Al Jaber added.

Mohamed Shaker Al-Markabi, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy in Egypt, said: “Egypt has an ambitious program to advance the Egyptian electricity sector in various fields.

The optimization of the use of new and renewable energy resources and encouraging investment in this field would contribute to reducing dependence on fossil fuels and continue to reduce carbon emissions. 

That’s coming in line with Egypt’s energy strategy to have up to 42 percent of our energy mix from renewable energy sources by 2030, while complementing the National Climate Strategy 2050 to face the challenges of climate change and achieve sustainable economic growth.”

He added: ” Renewable energy in Egypt has the potential to attract direct foreign investments, and the national Egyptian entities play a vital role in creating an environment that is supportive of investment with low risks, and high interaction with the financing institutions and development partners. 

“In addition, Egypt has comparative advantages in terms of the land available which is necessary to produce a huge volume of electricity from renewable resources. Furthermore, Egypt’s geographical location enables it to export green energy to Europe, especially as the country looks to further enhance and raise the efficiency of its national grid, ” he said.

In March, Masdar became the largest operator of renewables in Africa after its joint venture with Egypt’s Infinity – Infinity Power – acquired Lekela Power, a renewables developer with operations across the continent.  Masdar also demonstrated its commitment to African nations by signing deals to develop renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of up to 5 GW in Angola, Uganda, and Zambia, in January.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO, Masdar, said: “Masdar is proud to be working with global partners to maximize our direct impact on Egypt in all fields of business and economy and help addressing urgent global sustainability challenges and supporting the global efforts to develop sustainable solutions to produce energy using the latest available technologies with the lowest competitive cost. “