The Minya solar plant is drawing fresh financing from EAAIF

The Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) committed a USD 30 mn senior secured corporate loan to Hassan Allam Utilities (HAU) to help finance the Minya 1 GW solar and 660 MWh battery-storage system (BESS), according to a statement. Separately, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is weighing up to USD 170 mn in senior debt for the same plant, against a total project cost of USD 764 mn, per an EBRD disclosure.

Who owns it: The Minya plant is held through Nefer Menya for Renewable Energy (NMRE), an Egyptian SPV set up solely to build and run the project. Infinity Power Holding (IPH) — a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s Masdar (49%) and Infinity Energy (51%) — owns 51%. HAU Energy — a platform backed by HAU, the EBRD, and French infrastructure investor Meridiam — holds the remaining 49%.

IN CONTEXT- The project falls under the EBRD-led Energy Pillar of Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) program, targeting 10 GW of renewables by 2028. Last month we reported that the EU is backing Egypt with EUR 690 mn to upgrade the country’s transmission network and integrate 22 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. The investment comes under T-Med, the EU’s new Mediterranean energy initiative. The backing combines a EUR 600 mn EIB Global loan and EUR 90 mn in European Commission grants and will cover 44% of the total program cost, with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company covering the rest.

Why it matters: The EU has framed T-Med as doing more than domestic grid upgrades. The initiative’s stated priorities include cross-border interconnections and hydrogen corridors between the EU and its Southern Mediterranean partners. MENA solar and wind costs 30-40% less than in the EU, with technical renewable potential over 2.3k GW — more than double the EU’s own installed capacity. Our take is that the program isn’t just for Egypt’s 22 GW, but it also forms the backbone of a future Egypt-Europe power or hydrogen export corridor.

A broader group of development-finance lenders is backing Egypt’s grid. EBRD’s Hashem Abd El Hakim told EnterpriseAM in April the bank’s 2026 Egypt ticket is valued at USD 1.4-1.5 bn, with at least 40% — as much as USD 600 mn — for green projects. AfDB’s Dandara financing for EgyptAlum and EAAIF’s expanding relationship with Hassan Allam point to the same pattern.

More from Hassan Allam: In April, the EBRD extended a USD 65 mn bridge loan to HAU’s Nefer Benban, a 200 MW and 120 MWh BESS sister project which secured funding for new phases under the same November 2025 PPA package with the Electricity Ministry and EETC. Minya and Benban together make up 1.2 GW of solar and 720 MWh of storage — one part of a much larger Masdar-Infinity-Hassan Allam pipeline that also includes a 10 GW wind project in Sohag and a USD 15 bn green hydrogen venture with BP in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.