EBRD, DEG Back Egypt's Nefer Benban Solar-Battery Plant With $127M

• The EBRD and DEG are providing up to $127 million of debt for the 258.5-MWp Nefer Benban solar plant near Aswan.
• The plant adds a 120-MWh battery and sells power to EETC under a 25-year contract.
• AIKO said in May that the plant was scheduled to connect to the grid by the fourth quarter of 2026.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Germany's DEG are providing up to $127 million of debt for Nefer Benban, a 258.5-MWp solar plant with a 120-MWh battery near Aswan, Egypt. The EBRD announced the package in a statement on Nov. 9.

The EBRD's part is up to $63.5 million. Up to $56 million is the bank's own money and up to $7.5 million is concessional funding from the Climate Investment Funds' Clean Technology Fund. DEG is contributing the same amount. The borrower, Nefer Benban for Renewable Energy, is 51% owned by Infinity Power and 49% by HAU Energy, according to the EBRD's project summary.

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co. will buy the output under a 25-year power purchase agreement. The battery will shift daytime solar power to the evening peak; Infinity Power lists it as a two-hour system. Hassan Allam Construction is the builder. AIKO agreed in May to supply back-contact modules, and HiTHIUM signed in January to deliver the battery.

The EBRD calls Nefer Benban one of the first solar plants in Egypt with battery storage. The country had 3,247 MW of solar PV at the end of 2025, IRENA data show.

The deal in numbers

• $175 million total project cost in the EBRD's project summary; debt covers about 73% (list.solar calculation).
• $0.49 of debt per watt of peak capacity, or $0.68 per watt of total cost (list.solar calculation).
• 60 MW of battery output implied by 120 MWh and Infinity Power's two-hour rating (list.solar calculation).
• 200 MW plant rating in the EBRD summary, about 6% of Egypt's 2025 solar fleet (list.solar calculation).
• 310,000 homes powered and more than 349,000 tonnes of CO2 avoided a year, the EBRD says.

In April the EBRD separately agreed a $65 million construction bridge loan with HAU Energy for the plant. Last month the bank said it was arranging up to $265 million for Nefer Minya, the same sponsors' 1.2-GW solar plant with 600 MWh of batteries.

"Battery storage will play an increasingly important role as Egypt expands renewable electricity generation," Aida Sitdikova, the EBRD's director of sustainable infrastructure for the Middle East and Africa, said.

The EPC contractor moved onto the site in February 2026, the project summary says. In May, AIKO said grid connection was scheduled by the fourth quarter of 2026. The Nov. 9 statement gave no date.