Egypt's El Sewedy Electric May Invest in Pakistan's Wind Sector

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--El Sewedy Electric (CAI:SWDY) (Cairo, Egypt), a leading manufacturer of cables and electrical products in the Middle East and a provider of energy solutions, is likely to set up a 50-megawatt (MW) wind power plant in Pakistan.

El Sewedy is planning to invest $200 million in five wind power projects, with capacities of 10 MW each, in addition to the 50-MW windfarm. The group is keen to make a foray into the wind energy market in Asia, beginning with the proposed wind-based power plant in Pakistan. According to Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Pakistan will benefit from the group's expertise and technological know-how in wind power generation.

To win the confidence of investors in Pakistan, El Sewedy will begin by setting up the 50-MW windfarm in five stages. The group aims to later construct a wind turbine factory in Pakistan. El Sewedy has not divulged further details on the project, but the company is likely to secure 70% financing for these projects from Pakistani banks.

Pakistan has the potential to generate about 346,000 MW of power from wind energy, of which nearly 50,000 MW could come from the country's coastal wind corridor. However, a majority of this renewable source of energy remains untapped, and the country continues to reel under a severe power crisis, facing a shortage of 4,700 MW of power. This has led to six to eight hours of power outages in the capital, 12 to 14 hours in the urban areas, and 16 to 18 hours in rural parts of the country.

The Egyptian group also plans to expand its wind energy footprint in the Middle East and Africa by supplying equipment to tap the growing demand for wind power. In March 2010, the group commissioned structural equipment for a wind turbine factory in Ain el Sukhna, which is off Egypt's Red Sea coast. El Sewedy and Manuel Torres Ólvega Industrial S.A. (Navarra, Spain), a wind energy firm in which El Sewedy has a 90% stake, signed a contract to supply equipment for generating 60 MW of wind power in North Africa at a cost of $100 million, and 36 MW of power in Europe at an investment of $46 million.

In May 2010, El Sewedy proposed to invest $100 million on rural electrification projects in Mozambique, primarily in the wind, solar and gas energy sectors. The project includes electrification of 15 districts in the country over the next two years. El Sewedy is seeking investment partners for the project.

El Sewedy's manufacturing facilities are in Algeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Yemen, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Zambia. El Sewedy for Wind Energy Generation (SWEG) (Cairo, Egypt), a fully owned subsidiary of the El Sewedy group, and responsible for its wind power generation business, has the capability to produce wind turbines of 1.65 MW capacity, wind towers, and various classes of rotor blades at its facility in Egypt.

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