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Egypt’s hydropower plans are back on the table: Egypt is currently mulling investment offers valued at USD 4 bn over three years to build hydroelectric power projects for use in the country’s green hydrogen projects, a government source told EnterpriseAM Climate. The proposed project revives shelved plans suspended by Egypt in recent years over concerns of water scarcity due the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the source added.
Details are scarce: Egypt plans to review offers and sign MoUs to accelerate planned projects, the source said. No details on interested players were provided, but the source said China was on the lookout for a partner in Africa for such projects amid offered incentives in the continent. Hydroelectric power reportedly contributed 15k GWh of renewable power to Egypt’s clean energy portfolio last year, the source added.
There was Chinese interest some time ago: Egypt is reportedly looking to set up a water pumping and storage station with a renewable electricity production capacity of 2.4 GW in Egypt’s mountainous Ataka region, a government source told Al Arabiya. The government had reportedly inked an MoU with a Chinese company over three years ago to implement the project, before being indefinitely postponed due to financial and technical issues.
And that’s not all: Egypt is planning to offer new renewable energy projects in the upcoming period with the private sector with investments estimated at USD 6 bn over the next three years, the source said. Most of the projects will focus on solar, wind and green hydrogen with offers on the table to set up solar and wind farms in the Red Sea.
How is Egypt’s current renewable energy shaping up? The country expects to produce 45 GW of clean energy from ongoing and future renewable energy projects, according to a statement by the Electricity Ministry. The country’s combined wind and solar energy capacity currently stands at around 4.6 GW, with hydropower contributing an additional 2.8 GW. Several projects are expected to begin operations before the summer of 2025, along with others pending completion of necessary procedures to start in 2026 and 2027.
Some deliveries to the grid are expected by fall: The ministry plans to add 750 MW of renewable energy from two projects to the national grid by October. Egypt was also planning to add 700 MW of solar energy to the national grid by the end of August. The 250 MW first phase of Orascom Construction, Toyota, and Engie’s mega wind plant is scheduled to open this month, while the 500 MW solar power plant in Kom Ombo underdevelopment by the UAE-based Al Nowais’s subsidiary Amrea Power is expected to be operational by October.
