Egypt's Minister of Public Business Sector Dr. Mahmoud Assmat had a meeting with the Ambassador of Norway H.E. Hilda Clemetsdal and a delegation from Skattek, a Norwegian company specialized in new and renewable energy.
They discussed how to expedite the implementation of the joint projects. They also reviewed the latest developments in the field of the construction of a 1-gigawatt solar power station and its feasibility to provide low-environmentally harmful energy for running the Nag Hammadi Aluminum Complex.
Taking part in this meeting was the advisor to the minister for investment and restructuring, Mohammed Hassouna.
Collaborative Opportunities in Renewable Energy
The conversation revolved around how to boost mutual interdependence and two-way investment, especially around new and renewable energy, to help Egypt’s shift toward a green economy.
It emphasized the way to lower emissions, expand the use of clean energy, and adhere to environmental standards to gain access to global markets, with Europe taking the lead, and therefore increase exports.
The meeting was also given an update on the initial steps of a project to build a 1-gigawatt solar power station to provide the Egyptalum aluminum complex in the city of Nag Hammadi in Qena with electricity.
The project in coordination with Skattek involves various fields such as the power purchase agreements, economic and environmental studies, financing, implementing deadlines, and completing the first 500 megawatts before the end of next year and the other 500 megawatts in June 2026.
Dr Assmat thanked Ambassador Clemetsdal and the accompanying delegation for the visit and stressed the special and old relations between Egypt and Norway, expressing his aspirations to further cooperation between both countries in various economic, industrial sectors, and all the steps taken to encourage local and foreign private investments in the recent period.
He also mentioned that Egyptalum is setting a record in production capacity after it had reached its maximum as for the first time from the date of establishment.
This was achieved with a simultaneous rise in sales volumes both in the internal and external markets. This was said to be because of the maintenance operation plans, new marketing and sales strategies and industrial supplies.
Dr. Assmat added: "We look forward to further cooperation to increase production capacity, improve company performance due to incessant demands of the market and achieving the return of investment.
Clemetsdal expressed Norway's pride in its cooperation with Egypt in different fields, stressing its interest in increasing economic cooperation. She hailed ‘the good cooperation between Ministry of Public Business Sector and Skattek for this significant project in supporting the transition to the green economy.’ She pointed to Norwegian companies being keen to invest and expand to the Egyptian market.
Nag Hammadi’s 1 GW Solar Energy Initiative
The project is a solar power plant uses sun rays to generate electricity during day. It is a joint venture between Norwegian renewables producer Scatec ASA and Misr Aluminum Company (Egyptalum).
In there, the Solar Power Project should implement a 1 GW solar power plant in Nag Hammadi town in the Qena Governorate of Egypt. Its main task is to provide a renewable source of energy for Egyptalum while powering its aluminum smelter.
The solar plant is set to be a central pillar of power generation at Egyptalum’s aluminum plant with an installed capacity of 1,000 MW of PV modules that will eventually enable Egyptalum to produce the highest grade of aluminum.
Phased construction at the project site with 500 MWh each facilitate smooth workflow, proper usage of production, and evading of power cuts.
The first phase of the project starts by installation of the solar panels of high technology, environmentally friendly and automatic movement parts to follow the solar track.
The incorporation of solar power into the aluminum production will make Nag Hammadi region more economically resilient and is a key element of Egypt’s ambition of diversifying its energy mix for anchoring a sustainable national development, with Egyptalum signing what is expected to be the first of many such deals.