Trump Drops Photo voltaic Energy Torch, Egypt Picks It Up

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Everyone seems to be noticing that China and India are leapfrogging forward within the world renewable vitality race whereas the US lumbers behind. Now right here comes Egypt nipping at America’s heels, too. The sun-soaked nation has been making some large strikes within the route of solar energy and different renewables over the previous two years, and a brand new developments in January point out that is solely the start.

It’s too unhealthy the president of the US refuses to advertise solar energy on the worldwide stage, however of late he has been busy with different issuesresembling the development of a brand new ballroom, the blowing up of the NATO alliancethe burying of the Epstein recordsdataand, after all, inventing new methods accountable homicide victims for being murdered by DHS brokers. When you have any ideas about that, drop a word within the remark thread. Higher but, discover your representatives in Congress and allow them to know what you assume.

Egypt Places The Photo voltaic Energy Pedal To The Steel

CleanTechnica started taking discover of Egypt’s solar energy journey again in 2015, when the nation started attracting extra consideration from world photo voltaic builders and buyers. The promotional effort landed an preliminary dedication to convey 1.4 gigawatts of solar energy to the nation, by a marketing campaign spearheaded by the European Financial institution for Reconstruction and Redevelopment in 2018.

That was only for starters. By 2023, Egypt was off to the races as dwelling to the 1.8-gigawatt BenBan photo voltaic farm close to Aswan, billed as the fourth largest solar energy plant on the earth on the time. In July of 2025, phrase dropped that one other 1.1 GW photo voltaic plant is within the works, within the Nagaa Hammadi area. The brand new facility will combine with a 200 megawatt-hour BESS (battery vitality storage system), marking Egypt’s first solar-plus-storage mission.

And now, at a time when the US photo voltaic business is canceling a number of initiatives at a price of 1000’s of jobs, Egypt is on a roll. January kicked off with information that the Norwegian agency Scatec has signed an influence buy settlement (PPA) with the Egyptian Electrical energy Transmission Firmunderneath which Scatec will ship a complete of 1.95 GW of solar energy and three.9 GWh of BESS from a forthcoming facility in Minya.

Scatec introduced the brand new dedication on January 11, noting that the brand new PPA “additional cements Scatec’s main place and dedication to delivering dependable, renewable vitality at a big scale in Africa.”

“By integrating superior photo voltaic and battery applied sciences, we’re offering Egypt with sustainable, around-the-clock energy and grid stabilising companies, supporting each the nation’s vitality transition and the area’s long-term financial improvement,” Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog emphasised.

One other New Photo voltaic Manufacturing facility For Egypt

That was simply the tip of the photo voltaic iceberg. Additionally on January 11, Reuters reported that Scatec will add to its portfolio in Egypt with a brand new solar-plus-storage mission in Minya Governate, with a capability of 1.7 GW on the photo voltaic aspect and 4 GWh of storage.

Reuters moreover reported that the Chinese language photo voltaic producer Sungrow will arrange a manufacturing unit within the Suez Canal Financial Zone.

The information group Egypt At this time additionally took word. “Sungrow’s manufacturing unit, set to be the primary of its type within the Center East and Africa, will cowl 50,000 sq. meters and produce as much as 10 gigawatt-hours of battery storage capability yearly as soon as totally operational, with manufacturing slated to start in April 2027,” Egypt At this time reported.

“This mission is pivotal in enhancing the soundness and effectivity of Egypt’s nationwide electrical energy grid and strengthens SCZone’s function as a number one industrial hub attracting world funding,” they added.

It’s Not Simply Sungrow

Sungrow just isn’t the one world photo voltaic manufacturing agency to arrange store in Egypt. On January 24, ELITE Photo voltaic introduced the commissioning of a 5 GW photo voltaic manufacturing unit within the SCZone. “The ability contains 2GW of high-efficiency photo voltaic cell capability and 3GW of photo voltaic module manufacturing, creating a totally built-in manufacturing platform designed to serve utility-scale, industrial, and industrial shoppers throughout the globe,” ELITE defined in a press assertion.

“The Ain Sokhna facility is a key part of ELITE Photo voltaic’s worldwide development technique, pairing centralized expertise management and world requirements with localized manufacturing in strategic areas. This method permits the corporate to reply effectively to buyer demand throughout the Center East, Africa, Europe, and North America (MENA),” ELITE elaborated.

ELITE (to not be confused with equally named firms) is headquartered in Singapore with places of work within the US. The brand new manufacturing unit in Egypt provides to its present roster of producing amenities in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Egypt.

In the meantime, Right here In The USA …

ELITE could seem new to the solar energy celebration, having first surfaced by that identify in 2023. Nevertheless, the ELITE Photo voltaic moniker is a rebrand of the corporate previously generally known as the California-based agency ET Photo voltaic, which launched in 2005.

The 2023 rebrand initially deployed alternating caps, as in “EliTe Photo voltaic,” apparently to emphasise the corporate’s previous life as ET Photo voltaic. Nevertheless, the all-caps model apparently gained out.

ET, EliTe, or ELITE, as of 2023 the corporate’s sights have been set on the US photo voltaic market to help its abroad manufacturing amenities. “The US market stays our major focus, and our merchandise have been efficiently utilized in varied large-scale utility initiatives throughout the nation,” ELITE acknowledged when it introduced the rebrand in 2023.

A lot solar energy water has handed underneath the bridge since 2023, significantly after Trump took workplace on January 20, 2025. Nevertheless, simply final month the main expertise efficiency insurance coverage agency Ariel Inexperienced (a division of Ariel Re) indicated that ELITE will proceed to develop its US enterprise.

Beneath the headline “Insurance coverage from Ariel Inexperienced Bolsters ELITE Photo voltaic’s Reliability for U.S. Challenge Builders and Traders,” Ariel Inexperienced introduced that it has insured ELITE’s photo voltaic module efficiency guarantee for as much as 30 years.

“ELITE Photo voltaic has been acknowledged as a Bloomberg New Vitality Finance Tier 1 producer since 2012 and brings greater than 20 years of confirmed reliability for photo voltaic module manufacturing,” Ariel Inexperienced enthused in a press assertion on December 2.

“ELITE Photo voltaic’s vertically built-in provide chain ensures constant high quality, traceability, and dependable, on-time supply to its shoppers throughout the globe,” they continued. “This insurance coverage protection strengthens ELITE Photo voltaic’s long-term dedication to offer stability, improve investor confidence, and de-risk photo voltaic property.”

Dropping The Warfare On Photo voltaic Energy, Bigly

Regardless of Trump’s many and various efforts to throttle down on photo voltaic improvement throughout his second time period, the demand for solar energy isn’t slowing down. Photo voltaic investments dipped final 12 months in comparison with the earlier 12 months, however buyers nonetheless poured $22 billion into photo voltaic initiatives within the US in 2025.

In one other indication that the home photo voltaic business is poised for a renewed development spurt, Ariel Inexperienced reminds everybody that the US photo voltaic market is ripe with alternatives.

“Partnering with trusted photo voltaic producers like ELITE Photo voltaic aligns completely with Ariel Inexperienced’s mission to broaden our photo voltaic module protection within the U.S. and speed up the worldwide vitality transition,” the agency defined in its December 2 announcement.

Your transfer, Mr. President. … Oh, wait, you’re in all probability too busy determining easy methods to preserve the Epstein recordsdata locked away from public view. By no means thoughts.

Picture: The Singapore-based photo voltaic producer Elite Photo voltaic is among the many world stakeholders speeding to fill the demand for solar energy in Egypt…and within the US, too (cropped, courtesy of Elite Photo voltaic).