Sawiris’ OTMT unit to take part in building solar plant in Upper Egypt

Egypt-based Orascom Telecom Media and Technology’s fully owned subsidiary O Capital for Energy signed this week a cost sharing agreement to establish a solar PV power plant in Upper Egypt, OTMT said in a Thursday bourse statement.

O Capital has signed the agreement with the state-run Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) under the feed in tariff (FiT) Solar PV in Benban, Upper Egypt.

Benban is a village west of the Nile, some 30 km (18.6 miles) from Aswan.

This agreement entails the rights and obligations in respect of the project’s relevant infrastructure works and OTMT’s obligation to pay its share of the cost of constructing the Infrastructure Works in exchange for the right to participate in the FiT programme.

OTMT, which is run by Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris, plans to participate in the FiT programme by designing, procuring, constructing, erecting, installing, testing, commissioning, financing, owning, operating and maintaining its solar energy power plant Project in Binban.

Moreover, this agreement constitutes an important step towards OTMT reaching an agreement to own and operate an electricity power plant using solar energy within the feed-in Tariff (FIT) programme.

The agreement “will be its (OTMT’s) gateway into a promising renewable energy sector in Egypt.” the firm added.