The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved up to $184.1 million in financing for Egypt’s Obelisk solar power project—set to become the largest solar energy installation on the African continent.

Located in the Qena Governorate of southern Egypt, the Obelisk project will feature a 1-gigawatt (GW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant, supported by a 200-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system. The project encompasses the full design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the integrated solar and storage infrastructure.

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company will act as the sole off-taker under a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), ensuring long-term energy security and investment returns. The project’s total cost is estimated to exceed $590 million.

“This is another landmark development under NWFE that leverages both Egypt’s leadership and the African Development Bank’s commitment to renewable energy,” said Kevin Kariuki, AfDB Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth. “It will strengthen the resilience of Egypt’s power supply in a sustainable manner.”

The Obelisk project has been granted a “Golden License” under Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) platform, marking it as a strategic national initiative aimed at accelerating the country’s clean energy transition and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, hailed the project as a “key milestone” in advancing the energy pillar of the NWFE initiative, which was launched at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh in 2022.

The financing package includes $125.5 million from the AfDB’s core resources and is further supported by concessional funding from several climate and energy-focused sources managed by the Bank.

These include $20 million from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), $18.6 million from the Canada-AfDB Climate Fund—backed by the Canadian government—and $20 million from the Climate Investment Fund’s Clean Technology Fund. Additional funding will be sourced from a consortium of international development finance institutions.