Acwa Power secures green loans for Egyptian solar project: Saudi renewables giant Acwa Power received green loans totaling USD 123 mn from several multilateral lenders for its planned USD 165 mn 200 MW solar farm in Egypt’s Kom Ombo, according to a company statement. The solar farm is expected to be commercially operational in 3Q 2024 and will power some 130k households in the country.

Who’s pitching in? The financing includes USD 36 mn from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), USD 14.6 mn from the OPEC Fund for International Development, and USD 24.4 mn from the African Development Bank (AfDB) — with USD 10 mn being funneled through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa. The United Nations’ Green Climate Fund (GCF) will extend USD 34.5 mn in funding and the Arab Bank will contribute USD 14.8 mn for financing the project.

There are already funds in place: Acwa already secured bridge loans worth some USD 45 mn from Apicorp and USD 14 mn from the EBRD. The multilateral lenders had approved the financing package back in 2021, but supply chain disruptions as a result of the covid 19 pandemic have delayed disbursement of the funds, the statement notes. The company received a USD 3.6 mn technical assistance financing package co-funded by both GCF and EBRD in 2021.

FURTHER AFIELD- The renewables giant is set to receive a USD 174 mn green loan from the Asia Development Bank (ADB) to help finance its 500 MW Dzhankeldy Wind Farm and 500 MW Bash Wind Plant in Uzbekistan, according to a statement released on Monday. The company secured two separate loans worth USD 20 mn each from the OPEC Fund for International Development earlier this month to finance the renewable energy plants.

The financing package: The multilateral development bank will extend a green loan worth USD 46.5 mn for Acwa’s USD 658 mn Dzhankeldy wind plant, and another green credit line of USD 40.5 mn for the USD 690 mn 500 MW Bash Wind Farm in the Bukhara region of the country. ADB will also administer an equivalent financing package totaling USD 87 mn for both projects under the umbrella of its USD 1.5 bn Leading Asia’s Private Infrastructure Fund, the statement notes. The credit line extended by the bank will partly be channeled toward the construction, operation, maintenance, and development of 282.5 km, 500 kilovolt power line connecting both farms to the country’s electricity grid.