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The Sovereign Fund of Egypt CEO Ayman Soliman intends to launch a new renewable energy sub-fund in 2022 which will take over assets belonging to some existing government energy sector institutions. He is also planning to invest heavily in renewables-powered sea water desalination projects which are essential for long-term water security.

EBRD support for a $340m green bond to refinance Scatec’s six plants at the Benban Solar Park in Upper Egypt marks the latest phase in the maturing of the solar PV complex where the authorities are already contemplating an extension which could add hundreds more megawatts of capacity.

Eni and BP were among the winners in Egypt’s latest upstream bid round. But most blocks on offer went unawarded, as the Ministry of Petroleum failed in its ambition to open up major exploration frontier in the Mediterranean Sea. Instead, bidders stuck closely to areas they already knew

The potential for electricity and other green energy export projects to transform the fundamentals of a nation’s power sector is strongly evident in Egypt.

The authorities have been obliged to relaunch a tender for 19 power transformers urgently needed for the rehabilitation of all three hydro plants at Aswan on the River Nile, as not enough bidders responded to the original process under which expressions of interest were invited in August.

The first cargo of liquified natural gas  from Egypt to Croatia arrived at the Krk island floating LNG import terminal on 10 November. The terminal was inaugurated earlier this year and has capacity to handle 2.6 bcm/yr.

With the imminent start of commercial operations at its 250MW West Bakr wind farm in Egypt, renewable power generation company Lekela Power will have installed more than 1GW of operating capacity in Africa, creating a company from which private equity firm Actis could now exit, writes Dan Marks

Companies including Apache and Transglobe are being allowed to merge multiple concessions into larger entities in a bid to cut costs. A sharp decline in crude production has driven the Egyptian authorities to take steps to fix long-standing problems which make it impossible for many mature oil concessions to operate profitably. International oil companies (IOCs) are expected to benefit from the anticipated improved terms and greater efficiencies, writes John Hamilton

The state-owned Administrative Capital For Urban Development – the developer of the New Administrative Capital being built 35km east of Cairo – has contracted a subsidiary of the Ministry of Military Production (MMP) to install 16MW of rooftop solar panels in the complex. At the end of September, it ordered Benha Electronics Company – also known as Military Factory 144 – to implement the project.

Dubai-based logistics giant DP World has created an investment joint venture with UK development finance institution CDC Group. DP World will contribute its stakes in the ports of Dakar in Senegal, Sokhna in Egypt and Berbera in the Republic of Somaliland and says it expects to invest a further $1bn through the platform in the coming years.

Norwegian developer Scatec is partnering with Fertiglobe and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt to develop a green hydrogen plant at Ain Sokhna, in a significant departure from the model pursued by other high-profile schemes. As well as being far smaller, it should be operational before the grander schemes have reached financial close.

Ras Ghareb Wind Energy, operator of the Engie Gebel El Zeit Wind plant, has signed a service level agreement with Hitachi ABB Power Grids to provide predictive maintenance for a 20km 220kV grid connection and 33/220 kV AIS substation.

Egypt is continuing to work on its plan to sell natural gas to Lebanon, but has tacitly acknowledged any deal to help out cash-strapped Beirut will not maximise revenue from its resources. Nevertheless, the proposal is not just an expression of regional altruism and Arab solidarity. It is also intended to further Egypt’s long-term geopolitical and economic interests.

The award of a 3GW electricity interconnection contract to link the Egyptian and Saudi grids should help Cairo deal with its substantial excess power capacity and encourage similar projects elsewhere in North Africa.

The Egypt-Lebanon gas deal shows Cairo’s determination to reinforce its indispensable role as regional leader, but the highly publicised arrangement also highlights some of the contradictions in Cairo’s commercial gas strategy, write James Gavin and John Hamilton