The deadline for bids for a tender to build a 250-megawatt wind farm on Egypt's east coast has been extended by a month to August 20, state news agency Mena said on Sunday.

The agency quoted Electricity minister Hassan Younes as stating that the extension was meant to give companies more time to prepare necessary documents.

Egypt announced the tender for the wind farm on a build-operate-own (BOO) basis on May 9. Firms were invited to submit qualification documents by July 21 for short-listing.

The project developer would be required to design, finance, construct, own and operate the power plant for 20 to 25 years, and would sell the power produced during that period to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company.

Younes had said in June a total of 72 international companies had expressed interest in the tender. Egypt, which is a gas and oil producer, has been developing wind power along its Red Sea coast in the east of the country.

It aims to generate 12 percent of its power from wind farms and a total of 20 percent from renewable sources by 2020.

Officials say Egypt's combined oil and gas reserves will last the most populous Arab country for roughly three more decades, pushing the drive for more renewable energy.-Reuters