Egypt is investing heavily in the part of the clean energy transition that often attracts the least attention: the electricity grid.
The North African country has secured a EGP20 billion ($391 million) investment from an Egyptian-Emirati consortium to build a high-voltage transmission line that will move electricity generated by massive wind projects in the Gulf of Suez to the national grid, a critical step as renewable energy capacity expands faster than transmission infrastructure.
The project, led by Intelligent Globe Construction (IGC), involves the engineering, construction and commissioning of Lot 2 of a 500-kilovolt double-circuit overhead transmission line stretching approximately 61.6 kilometres between the Orascom and El Hawamdeya substations.
The line is designed to evacuate electricity generated by wind farms in the Gulf of Suez and feed it into Egypt’s unified national electricity network.
The investment reflects a growing reality across Africa and the Middle East: building wind and solar farms is no longer enough. Without stronger transmission networks, countries cannot fully utilise the renewable electricity they generate.
