EBRD lends up to US$145 million for Alcazar's Red Sea wind farms

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending up to US$145 million for two wind farms on Egypt's Red Sea coast owned by Alcazar Energy Partners II, a clean energy fund, the bank said on 9 November.

The package comprises a loan of up to US$75 million to Niat for Wind Energy and one of up to US$70 million to Alcazar Rasgha Energy, the special-purpose companies that own the two farms. The European Investment Bank and DEG, the German development finance institution, co-finance the projects, and the European Union provides first-loss risk cover under the HI-BAR programme of the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus. The EBRD said the farms, with a combined 500 MW, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 979,700 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year.

A US$626 million project with three equal lenders

Alcazar announced financial close the same day and put the total project cost at US$626 million in its own release. Debt of US$436 million comes from the EBRD, the EIB and DEG, each providing one third. Niat and Rasgha have 250 MW each at Ras Ghareb and will sell their power to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company under 25-year purchase agreements. Siemens Gamesa has received notice to proceed and will supply the turbines and provide operation and maintenance, with Orascom Construction as balance-of-plant contractor. Alcazar expects commercial operation by the end of 2028 and more than 2.3 TWh of electricity a year.

Alcazar counts the two farms together with the US$420 million Gabal El Zeit privatisation, signed in July 2026, as more than US$1 billion of investment in Egypt's electricity sector, a total that includes debt and equity. The Gabal El Zeit transaction is working towards a separate project-finance close, the fund said. The EBRD said the wind farms also bring Siemens Gamesa back to the Egyptian market as a turbine supplier and maintenance contractor, which widens the pool of suppliers and contractors.

Angelina Eichhorst, the EU ambassador to Egypt, said the EU guarantee was helping to turn cooperation into "500 MW of new wind capacity, cleaner skies and a more secure energy future for Egypt".

Solar with storage at Benban

The same day, the EBRD announced a package of up to US$63.5 million for Nefer Benban for Renewable Energy, owned by Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities Energy (HAU Energy), which is building a 258.5 MWp solar plant with a 120 MWh battery storage system at Benban near Aswan. The package combines up to US$56 million of the EBRD's own funds with up to US$7.5 million of concessional finance from the Clean Technology Fund of the Climate Investment Funds.

The bank said it would be one of the first solar plants in Egypt to include battery storage, releasing power at peak demand after sunset. It will sell electricity to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company under a 25-year agreement and power about 310,000 homes. The financing follows a US$65 million construction bridge loan that the EBRD agreed with HAU Energy in April 2026, with DEG contributing an equal amount in an aggregate debt package of up to US$127 million. The EBRD holds an equity stake in Infinity Power and co-owns HAU Energy with Meridiam and Hassan Allam Utilities, it said.

The Benban plant supports the EBRD-led energy pillar of Egypt's Nexus of Water, Food and Energy initiative, which aims to retire 5 GW of inefficient fossil-fuel capacity and add 10 GW of private renewable capacity. The two deals add to the bank's Egyptian renewables lending this autumn, after a US$63 million loan for Scatec's Dandara plant and a 40 per cent stake in Scatec's Egyptian renewables platform. The EBRD said it had invested more than €16 billion in 238 projects in Egypt since 2012.