Egypt’s first utility-scale battery, Africa’s biggest solar-plus-storage project underway

Dubai-based renewables developer AMEA Power is set to commission Egypt’s first utility-scale battery next month, after going from project development agreement to completion of construction in a record six months.

The 300 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), at AMEA’s 500 MW solar field at Kom Ombo, in Egypt’s Aswan governorate, will be integrated with the solar site with the help of a $72 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) private sector operation of The World Bank.

IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop said, “Meeting Egypt’s rising energy demand – especially in the summer – requires bold solutions and we are proud to deepen our collaboration with a ready-to-scale partner like AMEA Power. This investment delivers sustainable infrastructure that strengthens the grid today while laying the foundation for a cleaner, more resilient energy future in Egypt. This is modelling efficient transition – one that brings value for the country through advanced technologies and skills.”

The BESS is being added to a solar field which has been operational since December and is being developed under Egypt’s 4 GW Emergency Renewable Energy Program, which aims to reduce the nation’s reliance on imported natural gas.

News of the BESS came just five days after the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced it will co-ordinate the supply of an up-to $184.1 million finance package for Africa’s biggest solar-plus-storage project.

The $590 million Obelisk project, in Qena governorate, in the south of Egypt, will feature 1 GW of solar generation capacity plus a 200 MWh BESS.

Set to be operational in the third quarter of next year, Obelisk will generate an estimated 2.77 TWh of clean electricity per year and will remove a million tons per year of energy-generation related carbon emissions. The AfDB said the site would require around 4,000 construction workers and 50 permanent positions, once operational, with a focus on recruiting women and young workers.

The project holds a 25-year power purchase agreement signed by the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company.

The AfDB finance package includes $125.5 million from the lender; $20 million from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, which has received contributions from the governments of Denmark, the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Germany; $18.6 million from the Canada-AfDB Climate fund established with CAD 123 million ($90.5 million) concessional loans and a CAD 10 million grant from the government of Canada; and $20 million from the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund, which is financed by international public money.

The AfDB said the $405.9 million balance of the project cost would be “mobilized from a consortium of development finance institutions.”

The Obelisk project is being developed under the energy part of the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) initiative launched by the Egyptian government at the COP27 United Nations climate change summit held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022. The AfDB said the NWFE has already driven 4.2 GW of “privately-financed renewable energy investments,” worth around $4 billion, of the 10 GW – worth $10 billion – it is targeting by 2030.

“Obelisk is another landmark development under [the] NWFE that leverages on Egypt’s and the African Development Bank’s leadership as well as commitment to harnessing the country’s renewable energy to enhance the resilience of the country’s energy supply to meet its fast-growing energy demand sustainably,” said Kevin Kariuki, AfDB vice president for power, energy, climate, and green growth.

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