Cairo – Mubasher: The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a financing package of up to $184.10 million for Africa’s largest solar energy and battery storage project, according to a press release.
The funding will be used to support the development of the Obelisk 1-gigawatt (GW) solar photovoltaic (PV) project and a 200 MWh battery energy storage system in Egypt.
Located in Qena Governorate, the project covers the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a PV power plant with an integrated battery energy storage system. Its total cost exceeds $590 million.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) will be the sole off-taker under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
The group’s financing package includes $125.50 million of ordinary resources, as well as concessional funding from AfDB-managed Special Funds, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) valued at $20 million.
The Canada-African Development Bank Climate Fund also contributed $18.60 million. An additional $20 million will be injected from the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund, with another financing to be mobilized from a consortium of development finance institutions.
Rania El-Mashat, Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, commented: “The Obelisk solar project is another important milestone for Egypt under the energy pillar of the NWFE program which has since its launch in November 2022 at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh delivered 4.20 GW of privately financed renewable energy investments, worth about $4 billion.”
“The goal of NWFE’s energy pillar is to add 10 GW of renewable energy capacity with investments of approximately $10 billion, and phase out 5 GW of fossil fuel power generation by 2030,” El-Mashat stated.
Expected to be fully operational by the third quarter (Q3) of 2026, the project will generate an estimated 2,772 GW-hours of clean, reliable, and affordable energy annually to the national grid.
It is anticipated to reduce annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by around one million tons and secure about 4,000 jobs during construction and 50 permanent jobs during operation.
Kevin Kariuki, AfDB’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth, highlighted: “This project also contributes to Egypt’s ambition of producing 42% of its power generation capacity from renewable energy sources by 2030 while spurring economic growth and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
