Germany’s Siemens is preparing to sign the final contracts for its first 180MW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez area of Egypt.

The 180MW wind farm forms part of the $8.5bn mega deal that Siemens signed with the Egyptian government in 2015, which includes 2GW of capacity through a number of wind schemes.

According to a Siemens employee involved with the scheme, the contracts will be signed in the coming weeks before financing agreements will be concluded. Following financial close, the project will take about two years to construct.

MEED reported in February that Siemens was finalising the site for the first project with the Egyptian government and also financing for the project. The first wind project will be export credit agency (ECA) backed, according to Emad Ghaly, country division lead for power generation & renewable energy, Siemens.

Ghaly told MEED in February that the wind capacity will be developed over 10-12 sites, in the Gulf of Suez area and should be completed within the next 7-8 years.

As part of the deal, Siemens will be building a rotor blade factory to produce the major components of the wind farms. The factory, planned to be built in Ain Sohkna, will produce 600 turbines to produce the desired 2GW for the Siemens contract. The factory will provide employment for up to 1,000 people, and is scheduled to be operational in 2017.

“[As part of the] wind factory, we will train local people to produce a high-skilled workforce,” says Ghaly.