CAIRO - 8 November 2022: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced Tuesday providing a new tranche of financing worth US$ 5.5 million to TAQA PV for Solar Energy, TAQA Arabia’s renewable energy subsidiary, under its existing facility for green private-to-private projects.
TAQA PV for Solar Energy is a project company incorporated in Egypt for the purposes of developing the private-to-private renewable energy business of TAQA Arabia SAE, an Egyptian joint stock company (a subsidiary of Qalaa Holdings).
The EBRD elaborated that the new funding comprises a $4.95 million loan from the EBRD and a $550,000 concessional loan from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to finance the construction and operation of a 7 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) project in El Minya.
The project will sell all of its electrical output to ASCOM Carbonate and Chemical Manufacturing (ACCM) under a 25-year power purchase agreement, according to the bank.
“This tranche follows an initial US$ 4.2 million loan in December 2020 to finance the construction and operation of a 6 MWp solar PV power plant at Dina Farms in the Beheira governorate, 80 km from the Egyptian capital, Cairo,” it added. This plant was the first private-to-private renewable energy project financed by the EBRD in Egypt and it enabled Dina Farms, the largest dairy farm in Africa, to use clean energy for some of its energy consumption.
According to the EBRD, this project falls under the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Private Renewable Energy Framework (SPREF), which supports the development and financing of innovative business models and the mobilization of private finance for renewable energy projects in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region.
“Supporting the growing private-to-private segment of renewable energy is critical to accelerate the decarbonisation of the economy and foster green supply chains in Egypt and across the African continent,” Managing Director of the EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group, Nandita Parshad said.
For her part, CEO of TAQA Arabia, Pakinam Kafafi, said that this project confirms TAQA Arabia’s ability to provide the latest sustainable solutions to a large base of private-sector companies, such as ACCM.
“The new plant will contribute to ACCM’s efforts to maximise the opportunities of using renewable energy resources, reducing its total annual electric power consumption by 16 percent. It gives us great pride to extend our partnership with the EBRD, a development finance institution that focuses on promoting private-to-private, green, sustainable energy projects aimed at developing society and providing a better quality of life,” she added.
The EBRD has invested more than €10.3 billion in 154 projects in Egypt, where the Bank’s areas of investment include the financial sector, agribusiness, manufacturing and services, as well as infrastructure projects in areas including the power sector, municipal water and wastewater services, and transport.
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