Egypt’s Kemet has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s energy storage batteries manufacturer Cornex for localizing the manufacturing of these batteries in Egypt, according to a statement by the Cabinet
The agreement was signed during an official visit to China by Mahmoud Esmat, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, to explore means of cooperation in the fields of manufacturing electrical equipment and supplies for renewable energy.
The agreement entails the establishment of an integrated battery manufacturing facility in Egypt with an annual production capacity of 5,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) and total investments of $200 million, relying primarily on locally-sourced raw materials and industrial inputs.
Esmat conducted a site visit to the company’s reference factory and production lines in Wuhan Province, which will serve as the blueprint for the Egyptian plant in terms of design, automation systems, production technologies, and quality standards.
Furthermore, the visit included inspections of raw material intake areas, testing laboratories, logistics, and export facilities.
The project would support the integration of renewable energy, grid stability, and continuity of power supply. Egypt is currently developing both standalone storage facilities and hybrid storage projects linked to solar and wind power plants to enhance system flexibility and manage peak loads.
The partnership with Cornex is part of a broader surge in Egypt-China energy cooperation, which has seen the signing of agreements worth $1.8 billion with Norway’s Scatec and China’s Sungrow to localize green energy technologies.
The agreement with Sungrow establishes a 10-gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturing plant within the TEDA-Egypt zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE).
Esmat emphasized that Egypt aims to raise local content levels in renewable energy projects to up to 60%, while positioning the country as a regional hub for energy equipment manufacturing and power infrastructure development.
