Orascom Construction announced the start of full commercial operation for a greenfield project in the Ras Ghareb area on January 9, 2025. The project, with a capacity of 650 MW, is ahead of the scheduled commissioning date by four months.
This project is considered the largest greenfield power plant in Africa, generating clean energy to meet the needs of over a million homes. It is involved in the supply of 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
The Red Sea project involves four companies: Engie France (35%), Orascom Construction (25%), Toyota Tsusho of Japan (20%), and Eurus Energy (20%). The project is being developed under the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) system for a period of 25 years, with Orascom Construction responsible for the construction and electrical infrastructure for the plant.
This project is part of Egypt's ongoing efforts to diversify its reliance on natural gas for electricity generation, aiming to increase the use of renewable energy sources. Egypt, currently heavily reliant on natural gas for electricity generation, aims to increase renewable energy in its electricity mix, in line with the "National Strategy for Sustainable Energy 2035", which aims to generate 42% of electricity from renewable sources by 2035.
In addition to this, the development of the project includes the start of the implementation of expansion and development work for a new plant with a capacity of 900 MW in the current location, as well as a long-term plan to enhance clean energy production from the Eastern Sahara for Egypt.
This achievement is a major step towards achieving Egypt's goals in the field of renewable and sustainable energy, and reflects the commitment of the participating companies to enhance clean energy in the region.