The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is reviewing plans to extend a EUR 165 mn green loan to help enhance Egypt’s electricity distribution grid, according to a project summary document released earlier this week. The funds — on-lent to the state-owned Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) — will help prepare the grid for the influx of renewable energy incoming from national projects. The loan — which will help finance the development of several power transmission stations across Egypt with a combined EUR 200 mn price tag — will be complemented by EUR 35 mn in direct grants from the EU and is slated for approval by 13 December, the statement notes.

The details: The funds will be funneled towards financing for a 500 KV substation in Cairo that is set to replace a gas-powered unit in the capital. It will also fund construction of a high-voltage overhead transmission line spanning 200 km to distribute some 2.1 GW of clean energy from renewables farms in the country’s Gulf of Suez region, the statement notes.

Part of a larger plan: The projects fall under the Energy Pillar of the country’s Nexus Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) program, on which the EBRD is serving as the lead developing partner. The project will be the first grid investment under a USD 2 bn investment programme to be implemented by EETC under the NWFE initiative.

The EBRD has made an impact on Egypt’s clean energy sector: The EBRD — which has financed some 163 projects and committed to investing EUR 1.4 bn in the country to date — extended USD 50 mn to finance the 500 MW Gulf of Suez wind farm in Ras Ghareb back in May. The bank has also committed to contributing USD 200-300 mn to the NWFE initiative to support the phase out of 5 GW of gas-fired power plants by 2025, and support the development of solar and wind energy projects yielding 10 GW by 2028. The energy pillar of NWFE is expected to mobilize USD 10 bn of private-sector investment and USD 500 mn of soft loans, grants, and assistance from donors and international financial institutions.

IN OTHER EBRD NEWS- Climate finance by MDBs reached a new record high in 2022: Multilateral development banks (MDBs) have surpassed USD 50 bn climate finance targets set at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019 for the second year in a row, according a statement by EBRD, citing a joint report (pdf) published by MDBs last week. The total climate funding for low and middle income economies reached USD 60.7 bn in 2022, with 63% going to mitigation, and the rest to adaptation projects.The EBRD’s own 2022 climate finance for low and middle-income economies rose to USD 4.3 bn, up from USD 3.9 bn in 2019, according to the statement.