Italgen, an energy affiliate of Italcementi, an Italian firm with interests in the Egyptian cement industry, has been granted a licence by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy to set up a private wind farm on the Gulf of Suez.

The agreement follows the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the ministry and Italgen in 2007 for the generation of up to 400 mw of wind generation capacity in the Gabal Zeit area.

The wind farm is scheduled to start producing electricity in 2012, and is likely to provide most of its output for Italcementi’s cement plants in Suez and to the south of Cairo. The ministry has indicated that it would be prepared to purchase any surplus.