Bahraini, Chinese, Egyptian and Emirati groups have agreed to develop a new manufacturing facility in Egypt, with an annual production capacity of 2GW of solar cells, 2GW of solar modules and 1GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Egyptian prime minister Dr Mostafa Madouly attended a signing ceremony for a land usufruct contract on Wednesday for the facility, dubbed the ‘Atom Solar Project’, which will be built in New Alamein City, in the Sokhna Industrial Zone in north-eastern Egypt.
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Backers include Bahraini investor Infinity Capital, leading Chinese manufacturer JA Solar, Egyptian component repair group AH Industrial Management and UAE-headquartered investor Global South Utilities (GSU). The groups will invest a total of US$220 million into the project, and the Egyptian government noted that it expects construction and trial operation to take three years.
The government also noted that the factory’s cells will be designated for “export to global markets”, which could be significant as many countries with growing solar sectors look to reduce their reliance on Chinese cell production. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China accounted for 98% of global solar wafer production, and 92% of global solar cell production, as of 2023.
Meanwhile, the factory’s modules will be delivered to the domestic and nearby “regional” markets in the Middle East and Africa. The announcement of the project follows the news that African imports of Chinese solar panels has increased 60% year-on-year, according to think tank Ember, and securing a domestic source of modules will be key for Egypt’s energy transition goals.
Project partner JA Solar was the supplier of PV modules to Abydos Solar, a 500MW solar PV project in Egypt to which the country’s first large-scale BESS was recently integrated. It was delivered by developer AMEA Power, while the site’s 300MWh of battery storage equipment was supplied and integrated by Trina Storage.
The Sokhna Industrial Zone is part of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) in north-eastern Egypt, and this is not the first major solar manufacturing project to come to the region, following Singaporean manufacturer EliTe Solar’s plans to build an 8GW cell and module manufacturing facility in the SCZONE.
The Egyptian government also noted that the project would create 841 jobs, and “gradually increase” the percentage of components made with materials made in Egypt, such as aluminium and glass, to minimise reliance on overseas imports of materials.
