ACWA signs up $114mn financing for Kom Ombo

ACWA signs up $114mn financing for Kom Ombo

ACWA Power has signed a $114 million financing deal for its Kom Ombo solar plant, which will add 200 MW to Egypt's power sector.

Construction will start this year and it should begin generating electricity in the third quarter of 2022.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the OPEC Fund for International Development, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank signed on to the financing plan.

The EBRD will provide up to $36mn, OPEC Fund $18mn, AfDB $17.8mn, GCF $23.8mn and Arab Bank $18mn. The EBRD will chip in another $14mn and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) $33.5mn as equity bridge loans.

The statement said ACWA had submitted the lowest tariff in what had been the first solar photovoltaic (PV) tender in Egypt.

Green bank

EBRD's president Odile Renaud Basso welcomed the deal with ACWA. The two sides had previously worked together on the 1.8 GW Benban solar project.

“Increasing the production of clean energy is an important step to reducing carbon emissions and addressing climate change. This is in line with the EBRD's strategy to become a majority green bank by 2025,” he said.

This is also the first time the EBRD has co-financed a project with the AfDB