Early Warning System

Regions

Middle East and North Africa

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Countries

Egypt

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Specific Location

Gulf of Suez area

Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.

Financial Institutions

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Proposed

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Jun 26, 2024

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

Borrower not available at the time of the snapshot

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Energy

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 140.00 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Bank Documents

Translation: Gabal El Zeit windfarm (Arabic)

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Jul 4, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Apr 9, 2024

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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project consists of the provision of a long-term senior loan of up to USD 140 million (c. EUR 129 million) to finance the acquisition of the Gabal El Zeit windfarm, a 580 MW windfarm located in Gulf of Suez area in Egypt. The plant will sell power to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) under the terms of a long term power purchase agreement.

The project will be one of the first state-owned assets to be privatised under the Egyptian government's wider privatisation program announced in 2023. The project will further promote private sector participation and the liberalisation of Egypt's electricity market.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

Categorised B (2019 ESP). The Project involves the acquisition of an existing 580 MW wind power project (WPP) composed of 290 wind turbines. The WPP is located in the Gulf of Suez in Egypt, was built in three phases (first operational in 2014) and was the first WPP in this area. As the WPP is an existing operating facility with no planned expansion, the Project has been categorised as B in line with EBRD's ESP. The Project is expected to result in improvements to the WPP and how it is operated, and in particular, further reducing impacts to birds.

The WPP is located within the Red Sea/Rift Valley flyway, which is a globally important flyway for migratory soaring birds during spring and autumn, and within the Gebel El Zeit Important Bird Area (IBA), which was designated to protect a strategic location within the flyway. The IBA is the narrowest part of the southern GoS and is also an important stop off point for birds that cross the Red Sea. The WPP, like other existing and planned WPPs in the GoS, presents a significant collision risk to various migrating bird species due to its location on a flyway.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Provision of a long-term senior loan of up to USD 140 million (c. EUR 129 million).

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

CLIENT TO BE DEFINED - A newly established special purpose vehicle incorporated in Egypt for the sole purpose of owning and operating the Gabal El Zeit Wind farm, which is envisaged to be ultimately 100% owned by Actis Long Life Infrastructure Fund.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	Actis LLP	Parent Company	Finance

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html