Construction has officially started at our West Bakr Wind farm in Egypt. This comes following the issue of a Notice to Proceed to Siemens Gamesa, which will supply and install the turbines for the 250MW wind farm. Siemens will be responsible for the installation of the 96 SG 2.6-114 turbines and will provide long term maintenance for the wind farm as part of a service agreement that will last up to 20 years.

Construction will start to prepare the site for the arrival of the first wind turbines, which are set to be delivered in summer 2020. The project is expected to create up to 500 jobs during construction, and the local workforce will be involved in the project’s construction throughout.

The wind farm is situated 30km North-West of Ras Ghareb and will be fully operational in 2021. The project will produce over 1,000GWh per year - enough to power over 350,000 homes. What’s more, the wind farm will save around 550,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. The project, which is part of the Egyptian Government’s Build, Own, Operate (BOO) scheme, will help to increase the country's wind energy capacity by 18%.

As with all our projects, we are committed to ensuring that our West Bakr Wind farm meets the highest environmental and social standards. Throughout development, construction and operations, we follow international best practice to mitigate our impact in areas such as biodiversity and resource use.

Working with local communities is always a priority for Lekela, which is why we also develop a Community Investment Plan, which focuses on enterprise, education and environmental initiatives that will last for generations. Beyond the local jobs created by the project, our plans will also address socio-economic development opportunities in the area.

As a long-term owner-operator, we have a growing team in Egypt who will be responsible for taking this project through the process of construction and into operation. Alongside Lekela’s other projects - in South Africa, Senegal and Ghana - West Bakr Wind will make up part of our current 1,300MW portfolio.