Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Seasplit Technologies and GE have signed an agreement to develop a 1.5-GW offshore windfarm – the region’s first – in the Gulf of Suez

The initiative was announced on the sidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC’s) 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Under the terms of an MOU the companies have signed, they will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of developing 1.5-GW of offshore wind power in the Gulf of Suez and explore how companies in Egypt’s petroleum sector can participate in the delivery of the project.

In another first, electricity generated by the windfarm is expected to provide power to offshore oil and gas facilities in the area, with excess power be supplied to the grid.

EGAS will provide Seasplit and GE with assistance to interact with other government authorities and stakeholders to enable completion of preliminary works. Seasplit Technologies is to provide the necessary technical, financial and legal resources to evaluate, structure and develop the project; GE is expected to enable Seasplit to perform feasibility studies to meet the necessary project milestones.

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla said, “This agreement will help address the challenge of climate change and is in line with the strategy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, moving towards clean energy.”

Seasplit is an engineering and project management company and a regional green energy company focused on offshore renewables. The company aims to develop and operate offshore windfarms, leveraging three decades of experience in offshore and deepwater projects.