Egypt 200 MW solar tender boasts sub-$0.03 bids

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company is currently reviewing six bids for the 200 MW Kom Ombo solar PV project including two bids both of which were below the $0.03 mark, causing an immediate publicity campaign from the two companies involved, Spanish solar developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures and Saudi energy giant ACWA Power.

On Tuesday, PV Magazine reported that Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) had issued a press release revealing the details of the 200 MW solar energy tender for the Kom Ombo solar PV project which is estimated to be worth $525 million and will be constructed in the Aswan Governorate in the south of the country.

At the time, FRV confirmed that it had submitted the lowest bid price of $0.02791 per kWh, followed by ACWA Power with $0.02799 per kWh, and the third lowest offer was offered by Norway’s Scatec Solar at $0.03045 per kWh.

Three other bidders were also involved, including three consortiums made up of the consortia EDF-Marubeni-El Sewedy, Engie-Orascom, and Actis-Enerpal, with bids of $0.0315 per kWh, $0.034, and $0.035 per kWh, respectively, according to the Daily News Egypt.

However, a day later PV Magazine had to update their story after Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power announced, via a statement to the Magazine, that “Hassan Amin, the regional manager of ACWA Power Egypt, declared that ACWA Power offered a price of $0.02799 at the very beginning, then it submitted a discount letter to reach the lowest price – $0.02752.”

The fierce competition for Egypt’s solar market is good news as the global solar industry continues to evolve and shift away from traditional juggernauts and new countries looking to build up their store of low-cost renewable energy join the fray.

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company will now review these six bids before offering a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement.

The Kom Ombo solar PV project is moving forward with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which, in October of 2017, announced financing for 16 new solar projects across Egypt with a cumulative capacity of 750 MW.

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation has also committed $203 million to develop a further 13 solar projects across the country with its own cumulative capacity of 650 MW.