AMEA Power expanding Egypt solar plant capacity by 300MW

Amea Power has announced that it will expand the solar plant capacity of its Egypt based solar facility by 300MW. The UAE company got the approval from Egyptian authorities to expand the Kom Ombo located solar project currently under construction. The Emirati renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) says the additional 300 MW will be located in the same site, on a contiguous plot of land adjacent to the site of the 200 MW plant. The expansion will bring the total capacity of the solar facility to 500 MWp.

The Abydos solar plant in Kom Ombo will sell its power to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). Unconfirmed reports say Egypt’s state-owned utility EETC will buy a kWh of electricity at a tariff of $0.02752/kWh. The project was secured last year by Amea Power on a bilateral basis. The plant will be owned and operated by a special purpose vehicle called Abydos Solar Power Company (ASPC).

Egypt requested the solar plant capacity expansion

The capacity expansion comes after a request from the Egyptian authorities to expand the facility’s energy output and subsequent approval by the North African country’s Cabinet. Egypt is looking to reduce its overreliance on fossil fuel based energy and increase renewable energy capacity in its energy mix. The North African country has some of the world’s highest potential for solar energy development, with vast swaths of unoccupied land and some of the world’s best solar irradiation.

Egypt seeks to produce 20% of its electricity using renewable sources by 2022 and 42% by 2035. This is according to the government’s Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy, Egypt’s energy plan.

Project construction

The solar PV power plant will be built by Sterling and Wilson after an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract between Sterling and Wilson and Amea Power, a subsidiary of Al Nowais Investments (ANI). The solar plant will use double-sided solar panels, capable of capturing the sun’s rays on both sides of the module. 

The 200 MWp portion of the solar energy facility is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2021. The solar plant will offset 280,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and meet the energy needs of 130,000 households. 

Amea Power is yet to confirm the delivery schedule for the entire facility including the recent addition of 300 MWp to the 200 MWp solar facility.

Besides the Egypt based solar facility, AMEA Power also has PPA for a 50 MWp wind project in Kenya. The company is developing a 30 MWp solar project in Morocco, a 50 MWp solar project in Mali and a 120 MW of solar plant in Chad. The company is also building a 50-MW wind farm in Togo.