Solar and batteries could help Egypt beat its blackouts
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Egypt’s first large-scale hybrid solar and battery plant has begun construction as the country looks to its abundant sunshine to help fix its energy crisis.
Obelisk, located in Nagaa Hammadi, will combine 1.1 gigawatts of solar production with 200 megawatt hours of battery storage. The $590 million project is being built by Scatec, a Norwegian renewable energy company mostly working in emerging markets.
Scatec already has four other renewable projects in Egypt, and the north African country is aiming to increase its share of renewable production from 13% in 2023, to 42% by 2030.
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Around three quarters of Egypt’s electricity comes from gas. But in recent years, as its domestic gas production fell, it became reliant on imports and rising gas prices plunged Egypt into a series of blackouts.
Renewable projects are becoming increasingly attractive to emerging economies, which tend to be hit the hardest by rising fuel prices, Terje Pilskog, CEO of Scatec told CNN. “With renewables, you are not dependent on importing fuels,” he said. “It is also about predictability.”
Sixty percent of the world’s best land for solar development is in Africa, according to the industry body Global Solar Council, but in 2023, only 3% of the continent’s energy came from solar. In 2024, 75% of all new solar projects were built in South Africa or Egypt, however 18 countries across Africa have the potential to install more than 100 MW solar projects in 2025, compared to two in 2024. The continent is aiming to reach 300 GW of solar capacity by 2030, which is more than the current capacity of the US.
Although Egypt is looking for new domestic gas resources, it has set ambitious renewable energy targets, and hosted the COP27 climate conference in 2022. But the driving force behind these new renewable projects is economic, not environmental, said Karim Elgendy, executive director of Carboun Institute, an energy and climate think tank for the Middle East and North Africa.
With an overreliance on gas, and with declining production from its flagship Zohr gas field, Egypt is struggling to keep the lights on.
Egypt issued a tender to import nearly two million tons of fuel oil in May and June to meet its electricity needs as gas imports became too expensive. The summer brings high demand, as air conditioning units are turned on to combat the intense heat – average highs can reach 42 Celsius (108 Fahrenheit) in the south. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly recently urged people to curb their energy usage to avoid blackouts.
