The British Embassy in Cairo has already helped facilitate over 60% of its USD 500 mn investment target for the six-month run-up period to COP30, set to be held in Brazil in November, the embassy’s Senior Trade Advisor George Yunan told EnterpriseAM. The two-way investment target is part of the British Embassy-led Green Growth Campaign to “deliver a series of ambitious outcomes across commercial partnerships, strategic communications, and government engagement,” Yunan explained.

This isn’t the UK’s first foray into Egypt’s renewables sector, with private British companies and the state having already invested some USD 1 bn, we were told.

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The UK aims to become a clean energy “superpower” by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050, requiring annual investments of GBP 40 bn between 2025-2030, Yunan said. To reach this, the UK also plans to build “on our existing partnerships with regional energy hubs like Egypt,” which share a mutual commitment to decarbonization.

The already committed USD 305 mn are from investments from British International Investment (BII), the UK government’s development finance institution. BII committed USD 190 mn for the USD 1.2 bn Gulf of Suez wind project developed by renewables giant Acwa Power and Hassan Allam Utilities subsidiary HAU Energy. The 1.1 GW project is set to be the continent’s largest onshore wind project, reducing CO2 emissions by some 1.5 mn tons a year. Alongside this is a further USD 115 mn from BII for Scatec’s 1.1 GW solar and 200 MWh battery storage project, which is split between a USD 100 mn concessional loan and a USD 15 mn returnable grant. The USD 600 mn project in Nagaa Hammadi holds the mantle of being Africa’s largest under-construction solar power plant.

To close the remaining gap, the embassy is looking at a variety of green sectors, including sustainable aviation fuel, water, green transport, and green energy, we were told. To persuade investors to commit funds to renewable projects, the embassy facilitates “collaboration through inward and outward trade missions, helping to build direct connections between UK and Egyptian stakeholders,” Yunan said. These missions help “foster knowledge exchange, support deal-making, and strengthen bilateral ties in green growth sectors.”

“London has once more been recognised as the number one global source of green finance, so [it] should have a key role in developing renewable energy projects here,” Yunun said. The embassy works with UK companies interested in the Egyptian renewables sector, making use of its expertise and financing tools, including the government-backed export credit agency UK Export Finance.

Another important pillar of the program is supporting Egypt’s leadership role in the global green energy transition, which has seen the UK invite Egypt to play a prominent role in UK-hosted summits. This included notable events like the IEA Summit on the Future of Energy Security, with this type of coordination set to continue in the run up to COP30, we were told.

UK expertise in the sector is also on offer, with the embassy looking to share “the UK’s world-class expertise in regulatory reform, carbon markets and pricing, grid management, and sectoral capacity-building,” Yunan said. Closer collaboration on Egypt’s green transition will also come in addition to “technical collaboration on food security and water resilience [which] will help Egypt adapt to a changing global climate.”

There’s also plenty of green energy expertise in the UK’s private sector that could be utilized. “The UK is a global leader in several green technology sectors,” according to Yunan, who namechecked offshore wind, floating offshore wind, green hydrogen, carbon capture, smart infrastructure, and waste-to-energy.

One area where the UK’s past experience can offer valuable advice is liberalized energy markets. “The way electricity is generated, transmitted, and sold is central to unlocking Egypt’s renewable energy potential,” Yunan said. UK advice on regulatory frameworks and its Green Cities, Infrastructure and Energy Program helped support the government’s move to issue qualification certificates to four renewable energy projects under the country’s peer-to-peer system. This cleared the way for companies to directly generate and sell power to industrial consumers. “For the first time, private producers can generate and sell electricity directly to consumers without intermediaries,” Yunan explained.

Egypt’s renewable energy sector could one day help support the region’s clean energy needs, we were told. “Egypt has strong potential to support clean energy needs through direct energy exports” by virtue of its geographical position and solar and wind potential, Yunan said. As Egypt works toward exporting energy through existing and planned interconnector projects, the UK can use its own experience of selling energy to the EU through interconnector projects and partner with Egypt to offer guidance and support, he said.

UK shipping companies could benefit from green bunkering efforts, which have seen substantial pledges to develop green hydrogen facilities along the Red Sea leading to the Suez Canal. “Green hydrogen is generally struggling to take-off globally, however Egypt’s strategic location makes it a better bet than many other jurisdictions seeking to develop projects,” Yunan said. Sustainable aviation fuel projects in Egypt could also aid the global aviation sector meet its decarbonization targets.

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