Developers on Egypt’s feed-in tariff are still waiting for the power purchase agreements (PPAs) to be finalised and approved by the State Council, a top judicial body.

Development banks, the key lenders on the scheme, are requesting final clarifications, and expect the definitive versions to be approved shortly.

The main issues are thought to be around arbitration.

The developers are working on negotiating engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, permitting and internal approvals, and hope to be able to sign PPAs in the next few weeks.

They will then have just six months before the deadline for financial close at the end of October 2016.

Solar projects at the Benban site have progressed the fastest. None of the wind schemes are expected to meet the financing deadline.

Due diligence by development banks has begun, meaning the projects they are financing will have a head start.

“The deadline is tight,” says a lawyer working on the scheme. “There is a lot of work to do on the financing and the EPC, but developers have made a lot of progress in the past few weeks.”

The scheme consists of 50-200MW photovoltaic (PV) solar and wind projects, with a maximum of 2,000MW of solar and 2,000MW of wind.

If they fail to reach a financial close by the deadline, the solar schemes will be moved onto a new, lower tariff.

Egypt has never financed a renewables project. The last independent power project (IPP) was financed more than a decade ago, although two are currently under development: the Dairut IPP and the Gulf of Suez wind IPP.

“We are confident, but developers need to [maintain the] momentum,” says one developer. “A lot depends on the commitment of the authorities.”

The New & Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and Egyptian Electricity Holding Company have been consistently praised for their responsiveness throughout the negotiation of the project documents.

Developers and lenders remain concerned about the shortage of foreign currency in Egypt, despite a recent devaluation.