EU Bank provides €120m to finance upgrade and expansion of Egypt’s Alexandria West WWTP
- February 19, 2020
- Posted by: administrator
- Category: Investment and Finance, Europe, Middle East
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a financing agreement of € 120 million with the Arab Republic of Egypt to support the expansion and upgrade of the Alexandria West Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP). The financing will contribute to improving sanitation services for people in Alexandria.
The project involves increasing the capacity of the Alexandria West WWTP to match needs up to the year 2050 and upgrade the level of treatment at the WWTP from primary to secondary to improve the quality of effluent from the plant and contribute to the depollution of Lake Maryout as well as the Mediterranean Sea thus contributing also to the objectives of the Clean Oceans Initiative.
Commenting on the deal, Flavia Palanza, EIB Director of Operations for Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood said:
“We are pleased to sign a new financing agreement to support such a vital sector in Egypt. The Alexandria West WWTP will have an important impact on the lives of people living in Egypt’s second largest city. As the largest international financier to the water sector worldwide, we are proud to provide both financing as well as needed expertise to implement projects.”
Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Egypt Ivan Surkoš said that the water sector is high in the agenda of EU partnership with Egypt; the sector has been one of the main pillars of EU cooperation over the past 15 years.
“We are looking at how water is the key to socio-economic development, not just from the environmental perspective but also contributing to green growth and in particular through greater resource efficiency,” Surkoš said. “The EU EUR 20 Million grant contribution to the Alexandria Waste Water Treatment Plant forms part of our efforts in that direction,” he added.
On a regional scale, the project will support the depollution of Lake Maryout and the Mediterranean Sea and potentially provide an additional source of water and thus improve the economic situation in the area. The project will also improve the health and environmental situation of the people living in the Governorate of Alexandria.
The EIB said this will contribute towards an efficient and sustainable water resources management in Egypt, as well as to Egyptian climate action efforts. The project will contribute to the environmental sound disposal/utilisation of effluent and sludge and energetically optimised and environmental sound sludge treatment.
In addition, the project should also limit energy consumption by generating energy from the biogas during the treatment of the sludge and thus reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
The Project has been identified and prepared with the support of the Mediterranean Hot Spots Investment Programme (MeHSIP) using funds provided by the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP) Trust Fund using the Climate Action in the Middle East and North Africa (CAMENA) envelope.