Greek Proposal For 9.5 GW Wind & Solar In Egypt

• Greece's Copelouzos plans to install 9.5 GW of renewable energy capacity in Egypt
• Power generated by wind and solar energy technologies will be exported through subsea cables via Greece to rest of Europe
• It estimates the route to cover 954 km distance from El Sallum in Egypt to Attica in Greece

Greek energy infrastructure company Copelouzos Group has proposed the Egyptian government a plan to install 9.5 GW worth of wind and solar PV capacity in Egypt and transmit the same to Europe via Greece through subsea cables.

The company representatives recently met the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to make the pitch for the transmission project that's likely to cover a route of 954 km from El Sallum in Egypt to Attica in Greece.

The company had previously secured backing of Egypt and Greece for its Gregy-Elica Interconnection Project with 3 GW renewable energy capacity, power from which was planned to be used by local industries and 2 GW to be exported to European Union (EU) member states using Greek-Italian and Greek-Bulgarian networks. It was proposed to be also used for green hydrogen production for export purposes.

Copelouzos applied to have the project included in the 10-year Development Plan of the European Energy Networks (TYNDP 2022) in October 2021, which was an essential step for it to be included in the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) of the EU.

The Greek company operates in the space of renewable energy, including wind, solar and hydro power, through Elica SA that counts 450 MW of under construction and commissioned projects along with 2.1 GW under development.

It also operates 2 fabs in the industrial area of Patras in Greece to produce solar PV wafers, cells and polycrystalline silicon panels, through its subsidiaries Piritium SA and Silcio SA. While Piritium has an annual production capacity of 33 MW polysilicon wafers, Silcio rolls out 30 MW solar cells and 24 MW solar panels, annually.

Copelouzos is not the only company eying Egypt's renewable energy potential. Recently, Australian green hydrogen company Fortescue Future Industries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Egypt to develop a 9.2 GW green hydrogen project using wind and solar energy (see 9.2 GW Green Hydrogen Production Plans For Egypt).

Previously, Globeleq also signed a MoU to set up 3.6 GW electrolyzer project in the country to be powered by 9 GW of solar PV and wind generation facilities (see 3.6 GW Green Hydrogen Project Proposed In Egypt).