Presidents of UAE and Egypt witness as agreement on world’s largest onshore wind projects in Egypt gets signed

President of United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his counterpart, President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El Sisi witnessed signing of agreement on development of one of the world’s largest wind projects in Egypt. The agreement has been signed between Masdar, one of the world’s fastest growing renewable energy companies, along with its Infinity Power joint venture with Infinity, Egypt’s main renewable energy developer, and Hassan Allam Utilities, to develop a 10 gigawatt (GW) onshore wind project in Egypt.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Special Envoy for Climate, and Chairman of Masdar, and Sabah Meshaly, chairwoman of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, on the sidelines of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, Cop27. The signing ceremony was attended by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court; H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Ministry of Presidential Court, along with other senior officials.

Dr. Al Jaber said, “The scale of this mega 10 GW onshore wind project – one of the largest winds farms in the world – is a testament to the renewable energy ambitions of the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Egypt, and demonstrates Masdar’s status as a global leader in clean energy.” He added, “Under the guidance of our leadership, the UAE has been at the forefront of positive climate action in the region – and globally, as reflected in the recent US-UAE Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE). The UAE and Masdar will continue to support Egypt’s net-zero goals, and we will endeavor to take forward the gains made here at Cop27, as the UAE prepares to host Cop28 next year.”

This project will be a part of Egypt’s Green Corridor initiative, which is a grid completely dedicated to renewable energy projects. The project and Green Corridor initiative are also aimed to contribute to climate action goal of Egypt to make renewable energy about 42 per cent of its energy by 2035. The wind farm, once completed, is expected to produce 47,790 GWh of clean energy annually and balance out 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to around 9 per cent of current CO2 emissions of Egypt.

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said, “With this agreement to develop our largest ever project, Masdar is proud to bolster our contribution to Egypt’s renewable energy goals, while strengthening our partnerships with Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities, and building on our relationship with the Egyptian Government. We are confident this project will help provide clean and sustainable energy to Egypt’s people while ensuring the country meets its decarbonisation commitments.”

Mohamed Ismail Mansour, Chairman – Infinity Power, said, “We are proud to be working on this project in association with our partners, enabling the Egyptian government to build upon their efforts to deploy effective solutions that confront the global issue of climate change. The project will enable the country to save vast amounts of natural gas; thereby attaining economic growth, reduce carbon emissions and provide greater access to sustainable energy sources, enabling Egypt to move forward in its journey towards becoming a green economy.”