Renergy Group Partners is eyeing a landmark hybrid renewables project in Sinai, which will include a solar plant, a green hydrogen production facility, and a pumped storage hydroelectric plant, according to a statement from the Electricity Ministry. The project seems more than just talk, with Electricity Minister Mahmoud Esmat reviewing technical and feasibility studies for the project.

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A price tag wasn’t given, but the planned capacities indicate this is a mega project. The solar component will be 15 GW. Current construction rates in Egypt put the price per GW at around USD 1 bn, implying a USD 15 bn price tag before even considering the green hydrogen and pumped storage hydropower components of the project.

This is far larger than any solar plant in existence — not just in Egypt or Africa, but in the world. The proposed plant dwarfs plants in China and India currently leading the list in terms of solar capacity, and it sits behind only Australia’s 70 GW Western Green Energy Hub and China’s 16 GW Talatan Solar Park-post expansion in terms of planned projects.

There’s a good reason why recently announced projects are often much bigger than anything in existence, with the global weighted-average levelized cost of electricity for new utility-scale solar PV plants having decreased by 89.7% between 2010 and 2025, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2024 report (pdf). Cheaper and more reliable solar panels with longer lifespans mean that solar is an obvious choice, given it is on average 41% cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel-powered alternative — a sharp turnaround from only a few years back.

Unlike others, the solar project will be putting out power even when the sun goes down, thanks to a 4.4 GW pumped storage hydropower project that will help produce 3.3 GW of sustained capacity.

SOUND SMART- Pumped storage hydropower works by using surplus electricity to pump water uphill into a reservoir in periods of low demand or high supply, releasing it downhill through turbines to generate electricity when demand rises or supply falls. This energy storage method allows networks that rely on solar and wind power to keep the lights on even when the wind drops or the sun goes down.

Some of the solar energy produced will also go to fueling a 1.9 GW green hydrogen electrolyzer facility, which makes us wonder if the USD 17 bn green hydrogen plant that the General Authority for Investment and Freezones pitched for South Sinai in March may be the same project. The 400k-ton-a-year project was said to be developed with the Military Production Ministry, which plays a part in the Renergy Group Partners alliance through the National Organization for Military Production, alongside Green Tech Egypt and Bahrain-based Oak Group Holdings.

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