ACWA Power, Saudi Arabia, together with consortium partner HAU Energy, a subsidiary of Hassan Allam Utilities, have achieved the financial close for the 1.1GW Suez Wind Farm in Egypt, the largest single-contracted wind farm in the Middle East.

The project will play an important role in supporting the Egyptian government in achieving its target of increasing the share of renewable energy in its electricity generation mix to 42% by 2040.

The project secured a USD 703.6 million senior debt facility from a consortium of banks, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the African Development Bank (AFDB), the British International Investment Corporation, the German Investment Corporation, the OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP). The senior debt funded by EBRD included a B loan structure provided by Standard Chartered Bank and Arab Bank.

Located in the Gulf of Suez and the Gabal El-Zeit area, the Suez Wind Farm has an overall investment value of USD 1.2 billion. ACWA Power holds a 70% stake in the project, with HAU Energy owning the remaining 30%.

The project will contribute to eliminating 1.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and will be implemented in two phases with a capacity of 550MW for each phase, with a total of 138 turbines. The capacity of each turbine will reach about 8MW and a height of about 210 metres per turbine. The project is expected to achieve full commercial operations by Q2 2027.