Wind farm Gulf of Suez
Egypt: Protecting the climate with wind energy from the desert
The Egyptian Hurghada is primarily known as a holiday destination. The town on the Red Sea is especially popular with windsurfers and kitesurfers. The wind is considered very reliable in the region – this creates optimal conditions for sport. The high wind speeds of up to ten metres per second make the desert north of Hurghada a perfect location for wind power plants. At the end of March 2024, Egypt’s energy minister inaugurated the "Gulf of Suez" wind farm just 20 kilometres from the coast.
The German ambassador and representatives of European institutions also took part in the celebrations in the Egyptian desert. The reason: under the leadership of KfW, it was a European consortium that took over the financing of the wind farm. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the French Agence Française de Développement (AFD), KfW provided a total of almost 220 million euros in grants and loans.
At the inauguration ceremony, the partners were able to assess the result of the good cooperation between the European financiers and the Egyptian Renewable Energy Agency (NREA): 70 wind turbines are rising from the desert sand. Each one has an output of 3.6 megawatts. With a total output of 252 megawatts, they generate an expected 1,200 gigawatt hours of green electricity per year, which can supply around 400,000 Egyptian households. At the same time, the plant will save around 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually – an effective contribution to climate protection.
It is no coincidence that KfW coordinated the financing of the Gulf of Suez wind farm. On behalf of BMZ, the German development bank has been active in the North African country for years and has already financed numerous projects, including in the areas of water supply, energy generation, education and waste disposal. Based on its experience and the trust it enjoys in Egypt, the Bank has been entrusted with the role of financing coordination of the new wind farm.
On behalf of BMZ, KfW is providing almost 60 million euros in loans for the Gulf of Suez wind farm. In total, KfW’s active energy sector portfolio in Egypt comprises a volume of 390 million euros. Of this amount, 315 million are used to support renewable energy projects, and 75 million to improve energy efficiency.
With its commitment, KfW actively supports the Egyptian government’s plan to increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix to 42% by 2030. However, there is still a long way to go. Currently, the country derives more than four-fifths of its electricity from fossil fuels, primarily gas. The fact that gas plays such a major role in Egypt is not least due to the country’s energy crisis some ten years ago. In 2013 and 2014, households and industry were affected almost every day by power cuts. To solve the problem, Egypt intensified gas production and built new gas-fired power plants in the country.
Electricity demand has risen again after declines during the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to grow by 6% per annum in the coming years. This is confirmed by Egypt’s increasing industrialisation and ongoing population growth.
The development is also weighing on the country’s national budget. For example, the Egyptian government subsidises electricity tariffs and has to spend more because of growing demand. Since many fossil-fuel-powered power plants are old and inefficient, expanding renewables is a worthwhile strategy, including from an economic perspective.
Projects such as the construction of the new wind farm are not only important for climate protection and the country’s development prospects. They also offer opportunities for the often structurally weak regions in which the power plants are built. At the Suez Golf wind farm, local people are benefiting from the new jobs created at the operating company. In addition, the project partners relied heavily on the local population to build the plant: up to 70% of the workers came from the nearby municipality of Ras Ghareb. Finally, the neighbouring workshops can look forward to additional orders, which will give them the construction and operation of the wind farm.
The protection of birds is particularly important to the Gulf of Suez wind farm. This is due to large swarms of about 40 migratory bird species that travel along the coast of the Red Sea between August and November and from February to May. To prevent the animals from colliding with the wind turbines, bird watchers use binoculars and telescopes to look for the birds during this time. When a swarm approaches, they give instructions to shut down the turbines. In this way, the project partners ensure that climate protection does not come at the expense of biodiversity.
Learn more about the Suez Gulf Wind Farm
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