Orascom Construction has revealed that construction and commissioning work at Egypt’s Ras Ghareb Wind Energy project is complete 45 days ahead of schedule, Invest-Gate reports.

Ras Ghareb wind farm has been fully connected to the grid and ready for commercial operation at maximum capacity as of October 31, according to the company’s press release on November 4.

Deemed to be the first renewable energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) project of its kind and size in Egypt, the wind farm has a power generation capacity of 262.5 megawatts (MW).

It has been implemented on a build-own-operate (BOO) scheme by Ras Ghareb Wind Energy (RGWE), a company established by a consortium of French-based ENGIE (France), Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation/Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation, and Orascom Construction.

The generated power is sold under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). Orascom was the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the civil works and electrical systems, while owning a 20% stake in the project.

CEO of Orascom Osama Bishai commented, “We are very pleased to complete Egypt’s largest renewable energy project significantly ahead of schedule. This project highlights our construction and financing capabilities along with the successful collaboration with our international partners, financial institutions and the client. We remain focused on expanding our portfolio of recurring income projects.”

The consortium arranged non-recourse project financing from the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) in coordination with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Société Générale under a Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) cover. Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) was acting as the working capital bank and Attijariwafa Bank provided an equity bridge loan to Orascom.