A committee from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, which is assigned to supervising the energy purchasing Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) program, declined extending the period for the financial closure of phase I projects . This came in response to a requested submitted by participating companies to extend the deadline for financial closures by an additional 120 days in order to finalize bank approvals on fundings, reported Al Borsa. It is noted that companies participating in Phase I of Egypt’s FiT program have until October 26 to finalize funding aspects of their proposals.

Sources with the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity stated that the companies have already obtained primary approvals from banks to provide 85% of projects’ funding in foreign currency. Yet, obtaining final approvals may take more than 30 days, as banks review and confirm project documentation.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, met with the investors, informed Al Bora in a separate report. Phase I companies called for this meeting in an effort to explain their situation to Shaker and persuade him to grant an extension on financial closures. Furthermore, they wished to understand what will happen if they were unable to meet the mandated deadline. The investors stated that they don’t have clarity on their position if they are unable to finalize project financials within the specified timeframe, as they wondered whether they’ll be included in Phase II or will be excluded from the FiT program all together.