Investors in feed-in tariff projects (FiT) are skeptical about the success of the second phase of the FiT program, saying they believed the first phase ground to a halt due to government restrictions, most notably the state’s insistence on domestic arbitration, Al Mal claims. Issues from the first phase have not been addressed, said Cairo Solar Chairman Hisham Tawfik, and the government should have solved the crisis with the first phase instead of issuing a second one. The second phase is only meant to install capacity of 1 GW, while the first phase involves projects with a total capacity of 4 GW, said Tawfik.

Despite this, Cairo Solar is making lemonade: The outfit is negotiating with a Chinese contractor to build a 50 MW solar power plant under the feed-in tariff program, according to Tawfik. The contractor was also tasked with arranging USD 55 mn for the project, he added. The International Finance Corporation had backed out financing the project as a result of the domestic arbitration issue, Tawfik tells Al Mal. As we noted last week, Cairo Solar is one of 12 investors looking to alternative funding since international funders backed out. These companies will now be joined by Scatec Solar, which has begun negotiations with CIB and another unnamed bank to finance five solar projects with over EGP 1 bn in loans, sources tell Al Mal.