Norwegian independent power producer (IPP) Scatec, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed a US$217 million investment agreement for the Dandara solar-plus-storage project in Nag Hammadi, Egypt.
The non-recourse project financing deal with the development banks is around 80% of the planned 1GW solar PV and 100MW/200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project’s first of two construction phases. Scatec hopes to begin construction of the second phase in the first half of 2027. When complete, the project’s expected annual generation will be 1.4TWh.
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The solar PV and BESS project will supply electricity to Egypt Aluminium under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in March 2025. Egypt Aluminium is the North African country’s biggest industrial consumer of electricity.
At the time of the PPA’s signing, Scatec said the decarbonising impact, estimated at >550,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum, would enable Egypt Aluminium to meet the European Union’s (EU’s) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) requirements.
The closing of the finance deal came at an announcement event attended by Egyptian prime minister Mostafa Madbouly and minister of electricity and renewable energy Mahmoud Esmat, and Scatec provided additional information on the agreement yesterday (28 October). An official Egyptian state news announcement put the total investment value of the project at US$650 million. Scatec previously said it aims to fund this through a combination of 80% non-recourse finance and the remainder through equity from the company and its partners.
The AfDB, in particular, will contribute up to US$66 million to the Dandara project, which will consist of US$46 million taken from the bank’s ordinary resources and US$20 million in concessional financing from the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund (CTF).
Additional reporting by Andy Colthorpe.
This story and its headline have been updated to reflect additional information provided by Scatec on 28 October.
