Image: Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy
Egyptian company Kemet has signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese clean energy conglomerate GCL to develop a large-scale solar cell manufacturing complex in Egypt.
According to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, the planned industrial complex will have an annual production capacity of 5GW, cover an area of 280,000 square metres and require total investment of around US$500 million.
The agreement includes provisions for technology transfer, the use and value enhancement of locally produced supplies, knowledge and experience sharing, and capacity building to support the development of Egypt’s domestic solar manufacturing ecosystem.
The GCL partnership is one of several agreements Kemet has recently signed with Chinese companies to advance renewable energy development in Egypt. All of the signings were witnessed by Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Esmat, during his recent official visit to China.
In addition to the GCL deal, Kemet signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese battery energy storage manufacturer Cornex to establish a US$200 million battery energy storage system (BESS) factory in Egypt. The facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 5GWh.
Kemet has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with Chinese power transformer manufacturer TBEA to cooperate on localising electrical grid connection systems in Egypt. The partnership includes plans to establish the country’s first factory dedicated to manufacturing solar inverters.
These agreements mark the latest in a growing wave of Chinese investment commitments supporting solar and energy storage manufacturing in Egypt. In June last year, China’s Sunrev Solar announced plans to build two integrated factories in Egypt, each with 2GW of capacity for solar cell and module production. Chinese investors, including JA Solar, are also backing the development of an industrial solar complex in the Sokhna Industrial Zone.
More recently, China’s Sungrow revealed plans to construct a 10GWh battery energy storage manufacturing facility in Egypt’s El-Sokhna industrial area, further strengthening the country’s position as a regional hub for clean energy manufacturing.
