AMEA to invest an additional USD 600 mn in Egypt’s renewables sector: UAE’s AMEA Power will set up a USD 600 mn, 5 GW wind power project in the Gulf of Suez in cooperation with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), according to a cabinet statement.

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The timeline: The project is set to be completed by the first quarter of 2026, AMEA Power Chairman Hussain Al Nowais told Asharq Business.

A busy weekend for AMEA: The announcement of the fresh investments came during the inauguration of AMEA Power’s new 500 MW Abydos solar plant in Kom Ombo, which was built on an area of 10k sqm with investments of some USD 500 mn.The plant will generate electricity for 256k homes and reduce emissions by 760 tons annually.

Behind the funding: The project received funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Power China, which was also the main contractor.

Remember: The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company will purchase the energy generated by the solar plant for 25 years as per a previously-inked offtake agreement.

AMEA has a whole lotta renewable projects in the pipeline: The firm is working on a 500 MW wind farm in Ras Ghareb that is lined up for completion by mid-2025 as well as a 1 GW solar power plant with 600 MWh battery storage system in Benban — expected to be Africa’s largest.

DATA POINT- AMEA has so far invested over USD 2 bn into the Egyptian renewables market across five projects that produce a combined 3 GW, Al Nowais said.

Brace for more renewables: There’s a plan to launch renewable projects with a combined capacity of 10 GW and combined investments of USD 10 bn from 2023-2028 under the government’s Nexus for Food, Water, and Energy initiative (NWFE), Planning and International Development Minister Rania Al Mashat said during the inauguration ceremony.

In the short term: The Madbouly government has put forward an urgent plan to add 4 GW of renewables to Egypt’s national grid to secure the country’s energy needs by next summer, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said.

Part of a wider plan: This push is part of a broader plan to secure the country’s energy needs amid declining natural gas production and expanding electricity interconnection projects to enable exports to surrounding countries. Egypt plans to source 42% of its energy from renewables by 2030.

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