Ras Ghareb Wind Energy – Operations Update

It is already more than a year ago, on the 27^th June 2019, the project was connected to the Egyptian national grid and started the production of renewable energy. By end June 2020, the 125 Wind Turbines of Ras Ghareb Wind Energy (RGWE) have produced more than 1,000,000 MWh. Let’s celebrate this Terawatt-hour milestone! In June 2020, thanks an average wind speed of about 10 m/s, the wind farm capacity factor reached a record high capacity factor of 72.8%.

Since its Commercial Operation Date (COD) end October 2019, the wind farm has achieved an availability close to 98%. This great performance is the result of the quality of the work performed during construction and the operational excellence that was put in place. The Wind Turbines maintenance activities are performed by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) under a Long-Term Service Agreement of 15 years. The maintenance of substation and the balance of plant is performed by RGWE’s team itself. All together, there is about 40 people working daily at site.

From mid-February to mid-May 2020, the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) and its subcontractor Green Plus have carried out our bird monitoring program at Site. The goal of the program is to observe the spring season birds’ migration activity at the Site and implement the Active Turbine Management Program (ATMP). The bird watchers’ team at Site ensures that the wind turbines are shutdown when required to avoid bird collisions. Five vantage points at Site were used, mobilizing up to 12 observers per day. During this spring season, more than 190,000 birds were recorded, belonging to 29 species of Migratory Soaring Birds. The dominating 4 species were White Stork, Steppe Buzzard, Honey Buzzard and White Pelican. This season had high species richness, mainly fostered by recording Crested Honey Buzzards and Bonelli’s Eagles.