Photo courtesy of Egypt's cabinet
Kemet Industries signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese technology firm Cornex New Energy to establish a $200 million energy storage battery plant in Egypt, using locally sourced raw materials and components.
Cornex specializes in the research, development, manufacturing, and sale of lithium-ion batteries for energy storage systems, electric vehicles, and commercial applications.
The project aims to localize battery cell production in Egypt and use Cornex’s technology. The plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 5,000 megawatt-hours. The total area of the plant and the project timeline have not been disclosed.
Kemet also signed a cooperation agreement with Suzhou GCL Photovoltaic Technology, a subsidiary of the Chinese green energy firm Golden Concord Limited (GCL) Group, to establish a $500 million industrial complex producing solar cells and photovoltaic modules in Egypt, according to a cabinet statement released on Saturday.
The project will use the firm’s technology to increase local production and build capacity. It will cover an area of 280,000 square metres and have a production capacity of five gigawatts. The project timeline has not been announced.
GCL focuses on renewable energy, specializing in wind, solar, energy storage, hydrogen, natural gas, and smart city solutions.
The signings were witnessed by Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat during his visit to China.
Egypt has been strengthening efforts to become a regional hub for energy and energy equipment manufacturing. Investments to improve the country’s national grid are a priority under its national energy strategy.
The agreements also support Egypt’s broader economic narrative, which includes improving the investment climate, attracting foreign investment, promoting private sector-led growth, and raising the share of renewable energy to 42 percent of the power mix by 2030 and 65 percent by 2040.
The private sector’s contribution to GDP is projected to reach 11.9 percent by 2030, with annual GDP growth expected to reach 7.5–8 percent. The private sector already accounts for over 65 percent of total investment.
Plans are also in place to double foreign direct investment’s contribution to GDP to 4.4 percent, create 1.5 million jobs, support the green transition, and achieve $145 billion in exports.
Egypt has already attracted over $1.8 billion in renewable energy and energy storage investments in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, including the recent inauguration of the first phase of Norwegian firm Scatec’s Obelisk solar project in Nagaa Hammadi, valued at $600 million.
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