Consultant selected for Egypt wind farm

29 July 2010

Developers will be invited to bid once the wind study is completed

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has appointed UK-based Garrad Hassan to assess the site for a proposed 250MW wind farm.

Garrad Hassan will install on-site meteorological masts to conduct wind speed measurements and provide an energy assessment for the Gulf of Suez project.

The EETC made the award on behalf of a group of shortlisted developers that expressed interest in building the project in November 2009. The group comprises:

  • Iberdrola (Spain)
  • Enel (Italy)
  • EDF (France)
  • Renewable Energy Systems (UK)
  • AES Corporation (US)
  • Korea Electric Power Corporation (South Korea)
  • Toyota (Japan)
  • Orascom Construction Industries (Egypt)
  • El-Sewedy Cables (Egypt)
  • Egypt Wind Power (Egypt) & Powertek (Malaysia)

Most wind projects are tendered once wind-speed data is collected. The EETC decided to allow bidders to conduct their own research after submitting expressions of interest.

The bidders opted to complete wind measurement tests together with a single consultant because they were concerned that the process would result in an unnecessary duplication of work.

AES Corporation volunteered to perform the administrative functions of the research and the cost of the investigation is to be covered equally by the bidders.

The measurement project will start in September. The monitoring period is expected to run for a minimum of twelve months with wind speed analysis and energy assessment work to follow to support the individual bids of the shortlisted developers.

Bids will be submitted once the data has been collected. The winning bidder will build the project on a build-own-operate basis.

The project is part Egypt’s plan to generate 20 per cent of the country’s electricity from renewables by 2020.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.