The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) joined OPEC Fund for International Development, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Arab Bank to sign a $114mn financing package with ACWA Power for the construction a 200-MW solar plant in Kom Ombo in southern Egypt.

The package comprises loans of up to $36mn from the EBRD, $18mn from the OPEC Fund, $17.8mn from the AfDB, $23.8mn from the GCF and $18mn from Arab Bank. This is in addition to equity bridge loans of up to $14mn from EBRD and $33.5mn from Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).

The new Kom Ombo plant will be located less than 20 km from Africa’s biggest solar park, the 1.8-GW Benban complex. Once operational, the new utility-scale plant will serve 130,000 households.

ACWA Power submitted the lowest tariff in what was the first solar photovoltaic (PV) tender in Egypt. The provision of solar energy through a public tendering process aims to achieve a competitive tariff and promote the growth of solar energy as an affordable alternative to conventional energy sources.

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