Renewable energy developer Lekela Power announced on 11 December that key documents have been initialled for the development of the 250MW Gebel El Zeit wind farm north-west of Ras Gharib in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. This included the initialling of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and Egyptian energy minister Mohamed Shaker. Financial close is expected to take place in 2018, as well as the start of construction.
The project was awarded to Lekela after it narrowly lost out to France’s Engie for the Gebel El-Zeit tender. The company says that “extensive” environmental studies and technical studies have already been completed at the site, with positive results.
Lekela’s chief executive officer, Chris Antonopoulos said: “The initialling of the PPA marks an important step for Lekela and its partners. This is part of our long-term strategic plan to deliver renewable energy to Egypt and support the diversification of its generation capacity at a highly competitive price”.
