The project is a 1.1-gigawatt (GW) solar photovoltaic power plant integrated with battery storage, including 500 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity and a battery energy storage system with a capacity of 200 megawatt-hours, according to a cabinet statement.
The first phase was completed in 13 months and provided around 5,000 jobs during construction. A second phase, with a capacity of 500 MW, is scheduled to be inaugurated in May 2026. Full completion of the project is expected this year.
Scatec executive vice president for green hydrogen and Egypt, Mohamed Amer, said the project would reduce natural gas consumption by the equivalent of 21 million megawatt-hours (MMBTU) annually, supply electricity to around 1.65 million households, and cut carbon emissions by about 1.4 million tonnes per year.
Amer described Obelisk as Egypt’s largest integrated solar project and the first to combine large-scale solar generation with battery energy storage, a system designed to help stabilize the national electricity grid.
The project is financed through a mix of international funding, including $150 million from the European Investment Bank, $160 million from the African Development Bank, and more than $100 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), according to Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Minister Rania Al-Mashat. The EBRD also committed $30 million in equity bridge financing in May 2025.
European Union (EU) Ambassador to Egypt Angelina Eichhorst attended the inauguration, along with Al-Mashat and senior Scatec executives.
The project forms part of Egypt’s plan to raise the share of renewable energy to 42 percent of its power mix by 2030.
The inauguration comes as Egypt prepares to receive the second tranche of the EU's macro-financial assistance package. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said during a recent visit to Cairo that the next 1 billion euro tranche would be disbursed in the coming days to support Egypt’s economy and reform programme.
Egypt received the first 1 billion euro tranche earlier this month under the 7.4 billion euro ($8 billion) financing package agreed as part of the Egypt–EU strategic partnership signed in March 2024. EU approval was tied to progress in public financial management reforms and strengthening competition policy.
Scatec has expanded its presence in Egypt beyond the Obelisk project. The company signed a land usufruct agreement on Sunday for a separate solar and battery storage project, known as Energy Valley, in Minya governorate, with a planned capacity of 1.7 GW of alternating current solar power.
The EBRD said Egypt is now among its top four countries of operation, citing macroeconomic stabilization and increased private-sector activity. The bank has invested about 1.5 billion euros in Egypt in 2025, with roughly 80 percent directed to the private sector and around half allocated to green projects.
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