The project will be located within Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Agency (NREA)’s 37.2 km2 Benban 1.8 GW PV solar park comprising 39 separate PV plots, situated 12 km west of the nearest village (Benban), and 15 km west of the Nile River.  It is 40 km northwest of Aswan city, in the Aswan Governorate of Upper Egypt.  The project occupies a 97-hectare plot (SBN 21-3) located in the third row within the central area of the Benban PV solar park.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability as the E&S impacts associated with the project are limited, generally site-specific and can be addressed through the implementation of good international industry practices.  As the project is part of a larger development there are potential cumulative environmental and social impacts associated with the construction, and to a lesser degree the operational and decommissioning phases, which need to be managed in a coherent and coordinated manner.  In order to address these cumulative impacts, the sponsor has joined the Benban Developers Association (BDA) which will, with NREA and EETC, appoint the FMC which will undertake or direct the management of construction and several of the E&S cumulative issues.  This approach will assist in ensuring that ESHS risks are managed consistently by Benban PV developers, and that there is a well-managed and coordinated response to overarching cumulative issues such as occupational health and safety, transport / traffic management, security, community engagement and corporate social responsibility, and labor, worker welfare and accommodation, among others.