Solar energy company KarmSolar has secured US$2.4 million in bank financing for a solar-plus-storage project in Egypt.
The firm has secured the 47 million EGP (US$2.4 million) from Qatar National Bank ALAHLI, while Ezdaher Financial Advisory assisted with the deal.
The financing comes as KarmSolar launches a phase 2 expansion of the solar microgrid solution at a poultry farm facility in Giza operated by Cairo 3A. The expansion includes the addition of a battery energy storage system and an expansion of the solar plant’s capacity.
Sungrow is providing the battery storage unit, as previously reported by Energy-Storage.news. The energy storage system will comprise of a 2.576MWp PV inverter and 1MW/3.957MWh of storage.
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KarmSolar’s co-founder and CEO Ahmed Zahran described the project as “Egypt’s first financed solar battery PPA project”, adding:
“There is rising interest from established financial institutions to explore and support advanced solar
technologies. This new milestone will definitely boost the deployment of battery solutions in
Egypt and across the region on a much larger scale.’’
KarmSolar has a PPA to supply electricity to the poultry farm using a microgrid combining solar PV, storage and diesel generators. The original on-site solar PV station covers 30% of Cairo 3A’s energy needs using renewable energy, reducing its reliance on diesel.
It is not the first solar-plus-storage project in Egypt, however.
A project combining 30MW of solar PV with a 7.5MW battery storage system, also being supplied by Sungrow, will be commissioned during Q4 2022 according to the customer, goldmine operator Centamin in a news release from 13 October. The update from Centamin, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, didn’t mention the energy storage component.
German developer and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor juwi is delivering the project.
