Egypt is adding a large battery to store solar energy from its Kom Ombo plant in Aswan. The project is being developed by AMEA Power and supported with funding from the International Finance Corporation, or IFC. A total of $72 million in financing is being provided to help build and install a 300 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system. The Kom Ombo solar plant, which began operating in November 2024, has a capacity of 500 megawatts AC.
The battery is expected to start full operations in July 2025. Once active, it will store solar electricity that can be used when the sun isn’t shining. The system is designed to supply around 100,000 megawatt-hours of electricity each year. It is also estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tons per year. The project is the first of its kind in Egypt and is part of a wider program to add 4 gigawatts of clean energy to the country’s electricity system.
The battery and solar plant are located in the Aswan Governorate. The company overseeing the project is Abydos Solar Project Company, a subsidiary of AMEA Power. The Kom Ombo battery is part of Egypt’s energy diversification plans and is supported by national and international agencies. The project also fits within Egypt’s water, food, and energy coordination platform, known as NWFE.
In addition to large-scale efforts, Egypt has smaller, renewable projects. These include a 5-megawatt solar-powered water pumping station in Minya, helping local agriculture; rooftop solar systems totaling 1.8 megawatts installed on government offices in Qena and Sohag, and a small hybrid solar and battery plant near Siwa generating around 2 megawatts for nearby communities.
These efforts all work toward building a more flexible and cleaner electricity grid. The new battery at Kom Ombo is expected to make solar power available for longer hours each day, even when sunlight is not present.
