At COP27, UAE And Egypt Agree to Build One of the Largest Wind Farms

An agreement to build one of the largest onshore wind projects in the world in Egypt was signed recently in the presence of the Presidents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, according to a formal statement.

As per the statement, the agreement was signed by Masdar, a company that develops renewable energy in the United Arab Emirates, together with its joint venture with Infinity, Egypt's largest renewable energy developer, and Hassan Allam Utilities. Masdar claims that the new project would be its largest one yet. Masdar has a portfolio of renewable energy assets with a combined value of more than $20 billion and a total capacity of more than 15 GW.

The 10 GW farm would create 47,790 GWh of clean energy annually and offset 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, which is around 9% of Egypt's current CO2 emissions. The agreement was signed by Sultan al-Jaber, chairman of Masdar, special climate envoy for the UAE, minister of industry, and CEO of the state energy company Adnoc, outside the ongoing COP27 climate meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

As the UAE gets ready to host COP28 next year, Jaber said in the statement, "The UAE and Masdar will continue to assist Egypt's net-zero targets and we will attempt to take forward the advances established here at COP27." When finished, the wind farm will be a component of Egypt's Green Corridor plan, a system devoted to renewable energy projects that aims to have 42% of the nation's energy mix from renewable sources by 2035.

According to the statement, Egypt would save $5 billion annually on natural gas expenditures thanks to the wind project. According to a yearly report from Egypt's renewable energy authority, the country's installed electricity capacity was approximately 59.5 GW in 2019/2020.

To collaborate on the construction of 4 GW green hydrogen production facilities in the Suez Canal Economic Zone and along the Mediterranean coast, Masdar and Hassan Allam Utilities signed two memoranda of understanding in April with state-backed organizations in Egypt. A green hydrogen production facility capable of producing 100,000 tonnes of e-methanol yearly for bunkering in the Suez Canal will be built as part of the project's first phase and operational by 2026, according to the statement.

According to the report, the electrolyzer facilities might be expanded to 4 GW by 2030 to produce 2.3 million tonnes of green ammonia for export and green hydrogen for nearby companies.

COP27 has been used a platform by Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, the US to join the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) and pledge for augmenting offshore wind energy.