Vestas kicks off trial operations at Egyptian wind farm: An international consortium led by Denmark’s wind turbine developer Vestas began trial operations on a 250 MW wind farm in Egypt’s Gulf of Suez, a government source told Enterprise Climate. Trial runs will last for three weeks before full-scale commercial operations commence and the company hands over operations to Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Agency (NREA) by December, the source added. Vestas will handle maintenance on the farm for three years after commercial launch.

We knew this was coming, but there are some updates: The project — owned by NREA and implemented by a Vestas-led consortium — had an expected price tag of EUR 220 mn, which has now been adjusted to an estimated investment ticket of EUR 250 mn, Vestas reportedly told Al Arabiya. The project is being funded through an agreement between Egypt and EU financial institutions, including the French Development Agency, the EU, the European Investment Bank, and the KfW Development Bank, with the “bulk of the financing already disbursed” by undisclosed lenders, and the remainder set to be extended at a later date, the news outlet notes without specifying the portion of funding extended to date.

IN OTHER EGYPT WIND SECTOR NEWS- UK’s Actis is lining up its green loans ahead of Egypt’s Gabal el Zeit acquisition: UK equity investment firm Actis will reportedly incur USD 250 mn in green loan debts from a mix of Chinese and EU lenders to finance its efforts to acquire shares in the second phase of Egypt’s state-owned 585 MW Gabal el Zeit wind farm, Al Borsa reported last week, citing people it says have knowledge of the matter. The company’s planned credit lines will finance the bulk of the acquisition, and it will need a further USD 100 mn beyond its planned green loans to be privately financed — through an agreement with Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund — in a bid to acquire the power plant’s second stage, Al Borsa notes. Phase two might cost as much as USD 400 mn to complete, Actis representatives reportedly told Al Borsa.

REMEMBER- Actis has had its eyes on Egypt’s Gabal el Zeit for sometime: Actis was expected to submit a binding offer to acquire the Gabal El Zeit wind farm last month after wrapping up its due diligence, a source at the Electricity Ministry told Enterprise at the time. Actis’ offer valued the wind farm at some USD 300 mn back then, but the government said it was looking to push that figure to somewhere between USD 350-400 mn. Egypt said last month it is looking to finalize the purchase this month at the maximum.