Egypt's Electricity Minister Muhammad Shakir says no changes will be made to terms for 4.3GW of wind and solar PV projects that are deterring investors. Feed-in-tariffs offer 4.6-11.48 US ¢/kWh for electricity from wind and 9.0-14.35 ¢/kWh for solar PV. The government issued 56 temporary licenses enabling companies to begin preliminary work. But as the terms on offer have been clarified, increasing numbers of foreign firms have threatened to back out (MEES, 5 August).
The current terms necessitate that disputes are settled in Egyptian courts rather than through international arbitration as is the norm. They also require developers to raise 85% of project finance internationally. (CONTINUED - 283 WORDS)
