AMEA Power has completed commissioning of the first large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in Egypt, ahead of the start of commercial operations.
Dubai, UAE-headquartered renewable energy developer, owner and operator AMEA Power said this morning that the 300MWh BESS at its 500MW Abydos Solar Project has been successfully delivered.
An AMEA Power spokesperson told Energy-Storage.news that the BESS asset’s main application will be to time shift solar-generated energy for use during evening peak hours.
The spokesperson said the battery storage power purchase agreement (PPA) is integrated into the structure of the 25-year solar PPA the developer signed in September 2024 with the Egypt Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).
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The solar PV plant, around 960km south of Cairo, went online late last year, with PV modules supplied by Chinese manufacturer JA Solar. At that time, AMEA Power also announced that the BESS technology would be provided by the energy storage division of another major Chinese solar PV manufacturer, Trinasolar.
Energy storage division Trina Storage supplied and integrated its Elementa 2 lithium iron phosphate (LFP) containerised BESS solution, installing the units in partnership with Energy China ZTPC, a subsidiary of state-owned Energy China Construction Group.
“We are proud to bring this landmark battery storage project online, strengthening the resilience of Egypt’s electricity grid while supporting the country’s renewable energy ambitions,” AMEA Power chairman Hussain Al Nowais said.
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) financed both the solar PV and energy storage systems. AMEA Power announced the financial close on the BESS, with US$72 million IFC funding, just four weeks ago.
Documents were signed at a ceremony attended by dignitaries, including Egypt’s prime minister Mostafa Madbouly and electricity and renewable energy minister Dr. Mahmoud Esmat.
Under Egypt’s 2035 Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy, the country aims to have 42% renewable energy penetration on the grid by 2035.
According to decarbonisation think tank Ember, the North African country sourced 89% of its electricity from fossil fuels—mostly gas—in 2024, with solar PV and wind accounting for just 4.8%.
This means rapid growth of renewables can be expected in the near-term, with energy storage helping their integration to the grid.
While AMEA Power’s Abydos Solar Project is Egypt’s biggest single site renewables project to date and the project’s BESS the country’s first, more are on the way.
Norwegian developer Scatec has also signed a long-term PPA with EETC for a large-scale solar-plus-storage project, featuring more than a gigawatt of solar PV to be built in two phases, accompanied by a 100MW/200MWh BESS addition to the first 561MW phase.
AMEA Power is also set to build Egypt’s first two standalone BESS projects too. In February, the developer announced the signing of Capacity Purchase Agreements (CPAs) with the Egyptian government for a 500MWh system in the coastal village of Zafarana and a 1,000MWh project in Benban, in the western desert, where the multi-site 1.8GW Benban Solar Park is located.
