Egypt and China are moving forward with a new solar energy project in Ain Sokhna. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the signing ceremony. The agreement involves building a solar energy components complex inside the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
The developer is Sunrev Solar, a Chinese company. The project’s total investment is $200 million. It will cover 200,000 square meters. The complex will be built in two parts.
The first phase includes building factories. These factories will produce 2 gigawatts of solar cells and 2 gigawatts of solar modules. The budget for this phase is $90 million.
The second phase will cost $110 million. It will focus on producing raw materials locally. These include silicon ingots and wafers, which are used to make solar panels. This will create a full solar production process from materials to finished products.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone’s head, Waleid Gamal El-Dien, said this project could create over 1,800 jobs. He added that it could generate up to $300 million in exports every year.
Construction will start on June 19. The first phase is expected to start working in the first half of 2026.
This project joins other smaller renewable energy efforts in Egypt. In New Valley Governorate, the Desert Tech Research Unit completed a solar-powered water pumping station in late 2024. It uses 100 kilowatts of photovoltaic panels to support irrigation in dry zones.
Another project, led by the Agricultural Research Center in partnership with local farmers in Kafr El Sheikh, installed solar panels on greenhouse farms. These small units have capacities of 50 kW and help reduce diesel use in agriculture. In Qena Governorate, the governor’s office began a pilot project in 2023 to light public schools with rooftop solar panels. Ten schools were fitted with 30 kW systems each.
