Egypt accelerates renewable energy plans with ACWA Power’s ambitious projects and grid innovations

Dr. Mahmoud Esmat, Egypt’s minister of electricity and renewable energy, has recently taken steps to speed up collaboration with Saudi developer ACWA Power on a series of large-scale renewable projects. The goal is to boost the country’s capacity for clean energy, and also to make the grid more resilient. The meeting, held at the ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, focused on fast-tracking wind and solar installations, improving battery storage deployment, and coordinating grid-integration efforts for several big projects already underway in southern Egypt and along the Red Sea coast.

According to a report from El Zman News, the minister met ACWA Power’s regional director, Hassan Al-Amin, along with senior Egyptian officials like deputy minister Sabah Mashali and Gaber Desouky, who heads the Holding Company for Electricity. They went over the progress of wind projects in the Zafarana area and discussed a planned wind farm south of Hurghada. They also revisited ACWA Power’s existing projects in Upper Egypt, such as Benban and Kom Ombo.

This meeting indicated an intention to fast-track the development of a 1,100 MW wind farm at Zafarana, with the ministry mentioning that the first 550 MW phase is expected to be completed by year-end. El Zman News also pointed out that a separate, larger wind project south of Hurghada is in the final study stages and could actually exceed 1,500 MW once approved for construction. Dr. Esmat highlighted the government’s strategy to increase the share of renewables in Egypt’s power mix, cut down on fossil fuel consumption, and lower carbon emissions. He explicitly emphasized that private investors are “key partners” in making these plans a reality.

When looking at ACWA Power’s own disclosures and recent reports from industry sources, we get a clearer picture of the bigger story behind these talks. In February 2025, the company announced it had signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Egypt’s Electricity Transmission Company for a 2 GW wind project. This deal, valued at roughly USD 2.3 billion, was described by ACWA as Egypt’s biggest wind farm so far. The project aims to help Egypt meet its renewable energy targets and is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by over 3.5 million tonnes annually.

Earlier in January 2025, ACWA Power, together with partner HAU Energy, achieved financial close on the 1.1 GW Suez Wind Farm. They secured around USD 703.6 million in funding from a group of lenders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the African Development Bank. Plus, ACWA has hinted at broader ambitions beyond just power generation , recently announcing a green hydrogen project in Egypt with an initial investment of over USD 4 billion. This project is aimed at producing green ammonia at a large scale.

Industry analysts suggest that ACWA’s footprint in Egypt is growing fast. In March 2025, they reported that Egypt’s energy ministry had engaged in broader talks with ACWA Power and China’s State Grid Corporation to explore collaboration on renewables, battery storage, and grid infrastructure. On top of that, coverage from 2024–25 indicates that ACWA has plans to invest as much as USD 10 billion in various Egyptian green-energy projects by 2026 , including solar and wind developments of substantial size.

For Egypt’s grid planners, the challenge is pretty clear: ramp up intermittent renewables quickly without risking system stability. The ministry and ACWA discussed using battery storage to help smooth out the variability, provide auxiliary services, and ensure a steady supply during periods of high demand. As El Zman News pointed out, the meeting stressed that expanding storage capacity is crucial to “maximize returns” on wind and solar assets and to protect the grid from surging loads.

This approach matches broader regional trends. Developers and utilities are increasingly pairing large renewable installations with battery systems to meet grid code requirements and to firm up generation output for consumers. Banks and financial institutions also seem more willing to back bundled projects, those that combine generation, storage, and grid upgrades, as the financing behind the Suez project demonstrates.

However, it’s important to remain cautious when it comes to the ambitious timelines and huge investments announced by companies like ACWA. While the plans are exciting, execution risks, such as land rights issues, permitting delays, supply chain bottlenecks for turbines and electrolysers, grid connection timelines, and securing long-term financing, are very real. The Egyptian government’s public comments frame private firms as central to Egypt’s energy transition goals, but they also highlight the urgent need for careful planning and coordination between state agencies, investors, and developers to turn these agreements into fully operational projects.

For stakeholders based in the UAE and interested in climate technology, recent developments in Egypt offer some useful insights. First, the North African market continues to attract large, well-funded developers interested in scaling renewable energy and green hydrogen projects. Second, the push for integrating battery storage is shifting from just pilot projects to concrete policy mandates, creating new opportunities for storage technology providers and grid-management firms. Third, Egypt’s ambitions to develop green hydrogen through big renewables projects show a pathway for investments in electrolysis and ammonia supply chains, even though these initiatives will take considerable time and need stable commercial frameworks.

Dr. Esmat’s outreach to ACWA Power clearly reflects a pragmatic approach: ramping up capacity quickly while broadening the set of tools, like storage, grid upgrades, and private sector investment, to ensure that renewables lead to reliable and clean power. Whether Egypt hits its ambitious targets will really hinge on how well the government, developers, and international financiers can stay coordinated over the next few months.

Source: Noah Wire Services