SHARM EL-SHEIKH (Egypt), November 9, 2022: Two renowned renewable energy firms – one from the host country of COP27 - (Egypt), and another from designated host of COP28 - United Arab Emirates (UAE), will jointly establish world’s most extensive onshore wind farms aimed at generating 10 GW of power, according to the Gulf nation’s official news agency.
An MoU has been signed between UAE’s renewable energy producing firm Masdar, which invested around USD 20 billion and more than 15 Gigawatts (GW) capacity, and Egypt’s Infinity and Hassan Allam, it said.
The presidents of both the countries - United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt, were present during the signing of the agreement on November 8.
The concord was signed in commemoration of the ongoing COP27 climate summit being held at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The COP28 conference will be hosted by UAE in 2023.
Upon completion, the project will be part of Egypt’s Green Corridor, which aims at buffering the nation’s energy consumption by renewable energy resources by 42% by 2035, the report stated.
In the first phase of that project, a green hydrogen manufacturing facility will be developed and operational by 2026, able to produce 100,000 tonnes of e-methanol annually for bunkering in the Suez Canal, the statement said.
This project is aimed at generation of almost 10 GW of power, which will not only generate more than 100,000 work opportunities for its local residents but is also estimated to save around USD 5 billion in natural gas costs annually.
At its consummation, this mega project estimates at producing up to 50,000 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of annual clean energy and lower up to 9% of Egypt’s current CO2 emissions.
It has been observed that community owned Wind projects have proven to have multiple benefits, some of which are described below.
Wind energy is clean energy:
Wind turbines do not pollute the water or air while harnessing renewable energy. Therefore, they are a cleaner energy option than other options. They cause less levels of smog, acid rain and in general generate very low levels of greenhouse gas emanations.
Wind energy utilises minimal water for their functioning:
Due to their massive sizes, wind turbines are usually structured near rural areas therefore massive water consumptions by the same can be an environmental hazard for the community living nearby. However, wind energy uses the most minimal amounts of water for their functioning.
Community wind projects usually do not requisite separate overhead transmission lines and are directly connected to the electrical distribution lines. This means that wind turbines function on a smaller scale than utility-scale wind farms.
Wind Projects help regulate energy prices for local communities:
The predictability of cost and revenue becomes more transparent with wind projects due to their zero fuel costs and relatively low operating costs.
