Egypt signs renewable energy deals worth USD1.8bn

CAIRO: Egypt has signed renewable energy deals worth a combined USD1.8 billion, state TV reported on Sunday.

Among the deals were contracts with Norwegian renewable energy developer Scatec and China’s Sungrow.

Egypt hopes to have renewable energy reach 42 percent of its electricity generation mix by 2030, but officials say the goal will be at risk without more international support. The first project will be the construction by Scatec of a solar energy plant to generate electricity and energy storage stations in Upper Egypt’s Minya, an Egyptian cabinet statement said.It would have a generation capacity of 1.7 gigawatts supported by battery storage systems with total capacity of 4 gigawatt hours.

A second project will be a Sungrow factory to manufacture energy storage batteries at the Suez Canal Economic Zone. A share of the factory’s output would be supplied to the first project, the cabinet said.

The deals also include power purchase agreements, with Scatec signing a deal for total capacity of 1.95 gigawatts and 3.9 gigawatt hours of battery storage systems, the Norwegian company said in a statement.