CAIRO: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will help finance the decommissioning of 5GW of inefficient gas-fired power plants in Egypt from 2023 while pledging up to $1 billion for renewables, its regional director said on Sunday.

EBRD would raise up to $300 million in sovereign financing for projects including work to stabilise Egypt’s grid, adding battery storage, developing the local supply chain for renewables, and retraining workers, said Heike Harmgart, EBRD’s managing director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.

A separate $1 billion pledged for renewables would be about one tenth of the private funding needed for 10GW of mainly wind-powered projects planned by the government by 2028, she added.

Egypt is a natural gas producer that is trying to cut down on domestic consumption so that it can export more to Europe at a time of high prices and demand resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.