VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #2124 3140914
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 100914Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4176
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 002124 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ELA 
STATE PASS TO OPIC - BARBARA BRERETON 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ENRG ECON EAID EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: OPIC-SUPPORTED GLOBAL RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT 
ASSESSMENT 
 
REF: STATE 95170 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) In response to reftel request for comments on the 
OPIC-supported Global Renewable Energy Investment program, Post and 
local contacts are not aware of any derogatory information with 
respect to the prospective fund manager, US Renewables Group, LLC. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Renewable energy currently forms a miniscule amount of 
Egypt's total energy usage and the Egyptian government (GoE) has 
made diversifying its energy sources a national priority. The GoE 
has established a target that by 2020 20% of the country's 
electricitys consumption will be met by renewable energy resources - 
with wind forming the bulk of this goal. According to a 2008 
Egyptian Competitiveness Report, the country's Suez Gulf Coast has 
the potential to host 20,000 megawatts of wind farms. The GoE 
receives funding for wind farm development from EU countries 
(primarily Germany), Japan, as well as the World Bank. Despite these 
efforts, a consultant to Prime Minister Nazif's Supreme Council on 
Energy told us that there remains a strong need for increased 
capital for new renewable energy projects in Egypt.  Support for 
renewable energy financing is consistent with U.S. interests in 
Egypt and Post believes that OPIC's proposed investment would be 
welcomed. 
 
 
Scobey