A consortium featuring Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has signed a land access agreement with the Egyptian government for a 10-gigawatt onshore wind farm.

The other consortium members are Africa's largest renewable energy developer Infinity Power and sustainable infrastructure-focused development and investment platform Hassan Allam Utilities. The project cost is estimated at US$10 billion, making it one of the world’s largest wind projects.

The signing ceremony was attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and minister of electricity and renewable energy Mohamed Shaker.

The agreement gives the consortium access to a 3,025 square kilometre site in West Suhag, and will allow them to conduct the necessary development studies to pursue the project. This will include resource measurement campaigns, geotechnical and topographic surveys, as well as environmental studies to ensure minimal environmental impact.

The initial project agreement to develop the 10GW wind farm was signed between the consortium and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and witnessed by the presidents of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference COP27 in 2022.

The project will produce 47,790 gigawatt-hours of clean energy per year and cut around 9% of Egypt’s carbon emissions by displacing 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. The wind farm will also help Egypt meet its strategic objective of sourcing 42% of its energy from renewables by 2030. The project will also save the country an estimated US$5 billion in natural gas costs per year.

Masdar is jointly owned by Taqa, Adnoc and Mubadala, and is targeting a renewable energy portfolio capacity of 100GW by 2030 while aiming to be a leading producer of green hydrogen by the same year.

Infinity Power, the largest pure-play renewable energy provider in Africa, is itself a joint venture between Infinity of Egypt and Masdar. Infinity's shareholders include the Africa Finance Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Infinity Power aims to have 10GW of operational renewable energy projects by 2030. It already has a substantial operational portfolio across Egypt, South Africa and Senegal, including 1.3GW of solar power and onshore wind farms.

Established in 2017, Hassan Allam Utilities has focused its investment and development efforts on sustainable infrastructure, primarily in renewable energy, water, logistics, mobility, and social infrastructure assets. It is the investment and development arm of Hassan Allam Holding.