Benban Solar Power Project Named by WB as World’s Best

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Mar. 20 (SEE) - The World Bank Group (WBG) announced that the ACWA Benban Solar PV project, Aswan city, won the annual award as the world's best-rated bank project, the first time Egypt has won the award.

Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank, held a special ceremony at the Bank's headquarters in Washington, DC, celebrating the award. The ceremony was attended by senior officials and members of the executive board, who praised the project and its accelerated implementation.

They also hailed the project’s goal to expand Egypt’s reliance on renewable energy but also its persifying of energy sources, as a national strategic priority.  

Benban Solar Park—more than 32 contiguous solar projects across 36 square kilometers of Egyptian desert—is poised to become the largest solar installation in the world. It will generate over 2,000 megawatts of power a year, lighting up hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

Once operational, Benban is expected to avoid 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, the equivalent of taking about 400,000 cars off the road. will create 4,000 jobs in southern Egypt, where unemployment is high, especially among young people.

International Financial Corporation spearheaded the financing package, marshalling $653 million in loans from a consortium of nine international banks. The World Bank supported reforms to Egypt’s electricity sector and provided the country with a $3 billion loan, while the Multilateral Investment and Guarantee Agency (MIGA), another institution of the World Bank Group, provided $210 million worth of political risk insurance to encourage private lenders to invest.

On her part, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Dr. Sahar Nasr said that this project is part of the strategic partnership between Egypt and the World Bank, which supports the economic reform program of Egypt.

She added that the project reflected the trust of the world’s financial institutions and development partners in Egypt’s economy and its growth prospects.