The Washington-based World Bank has approved a loan worth up to $20m for Yemen to develop and construct a 60MW wind farm.

The total cost of the farm is estimated to be $144m. The contribution from the World Bank is in addition to loans from other active lenders in the region. The Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development has issued $65m to the project, the Opec Fund for International Development $20m and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) $20m.

The farm will be Yemen’s first wind power plant and will be developed as a public-private partnership (PPP). The scheme will be implemented in two parts. One part involves construction work that will be overseen by the country’s Ministry of Electricity & Energy, and the second involves procurement and development, managed by an international engineering consulting firm.

The scope of work involves installing 30 wind turbine generators with a capacity of 2MW each, as well as internal roads, internal cables and 2.5 kilometres (km) of 132kV overhead power lines.The total area of the farm is projected to be 120 square metres. The site is 2.5km from Yemen’s Red Sea coast and 4km from the port of Mocha.

Wind power offers the greatest potential for grid-connected and renewable energy in Yemen. According to studies by the World Bank, wind power accounts for 60 per cent of renewable energy potential in the country.