Egypt is set to open the first of three new solar manufacturing plants in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) in December, marking a significant step in its push to localise clean energy technology, according to SCZone chairman Walid Gamal El-Din.
Solar panels.
“Our mission is to localise technology. New and renewable energy is very important to us,” El-Din said during the inauguration of several maritime stations at East Port Said.
“One will open next month, another one in March 2026 and the third one […] in the first half of 2027”, the chairman said.
The zone is working to source all components of solar panel production domestically — from glass to fully assembled modules — so Egypt can generate electricity locally, he added.
El-Din did not name the companies behind the facilities, but the plant scheduled for opening next month aligns with a project by China’s Elite Solar. The company began constructing a USD 150 million factory in Sokhna in December 2024 to produce N-type solar cells and module-cell-wafer systems, with an annual capacity of 2 GW. The 78,000-square-metre facility was supposed to start operations in September 2025.
Another Chinese company — Sunrev Solar — laid the foundation stone for a USD 200 million solar complex in Ain Sokhna in June 2025. Under its original plan, it is supposed to go online in the first half of 2026. Its first phase is planned to establish two fully integrated plants — each with 2 GW of capacity for solar cells and modules.
A third plant should be completed in the first half of 2027, El-Din said. It will be developed by Atom Solar Egypt, a consortium including UAE-based Global South Utilities, Bahrain’s Infinity Capital, China’s JA Solar and Egypt’s AH Industrial Management. The project is planned to produce 2 GW of panels, 2 GW of solar cells and 1 GWh of energy storage systems.
