Egypt’s Zafrana Wind Farms are planned to be replaced with 1.1 GW wind and 2.1 GW of solar power capacity
This project in Suez Governorate with 545 MW capacity is coming to its end of operational life
TAQA Arabia and Voltalia have been roped in by the EETC and NREA under a MoU to study its feasibility
Egypt has unveiled plans to repower one of its oldest wind farms with 3.2 GW worth of solar and wind power. The Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has roped in local private sector energy and utility company TAQA Arabia and French renewable energy company Voltalia to carry out these plans.
The Zafrana Wind Farms with 545 MW capacity were installed in the Suez Governorate some 2 decades back. Now that they are approaching the end of their working life, the government plans to repower these to utilize what is one of the ‘windiest’ sites in the entire MENA region, and also the solar irradiance here.
The initial plan is to combine 1.1 GW of wind and 2.1 GW of solar power capacity. According to the project partners, this will be the 1st project in Egypt to combine both these renewable energy technologies.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), the responsible parties will study and explore the development of the hybrid renewable energy power plant. Key considerations will be to include wind speed and direction measurements, bird migration patterns, solar irradiation levels, and geotechnical, topographic, and environmental evaluations.
These studies are expected to be complete by December 2025 and provide critical insights for future development phases.
“Our presence in Egypt, thanks to our operating project within the Benban solar cluster, and our experience with hybrid wind-and-solar projects, such as in our Serra Branca cluster in Brazil, enables us to build upon Zafarana’s legacy with confidence to bring more clean energy to the Egyptian grid,” said Voltalia CEO Sébastien Clerc.
Egypt’s Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy 2035 plans for renewable energy to achieve a 42% share in its total power mix by 2030. Under the country’s Nexus Water, Food & Energy (NWFE) initiative, the government targets to implement 10 GW of renewable energy capacity to replace electricity projects powered by 5 GW of thermal energy, according to the country’s Ministry of International Cooperation.
Recently, the EETC signed long-term energy supply contracts for 2 GW PV capacity with Scatec and AMEA Power (see Egypt Firms Up Plans For 2 GW Solar PV & 1,100 MWh Energy Storage).