Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat conducted a field visit on Saturday, June 13, 2026, to the Benban Solar Park, with a total capacity of 1,465 megawatts, the Benban control center, several transformer substations within the complex, as well as the 1,000-megawatt Abydos 2 solar power plant and its battery energy storage facility with a capacity of 600 megawatt-hours in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan.
The visit falls within the framework of the ministry’s efforts to maximize returns from existing projects, enhance power generation output, and accelerate the implementation of projects scheduled for connection to the national grid, in line with established timelines.
During the tour, Esmat inaugurated the upgraded digital electricity platform for the Benban Solar Park, designed to digitalize and manage power stations through a unified digital system. The platform provides real-time visibility into plant performance, energy production, and operational availability, while improving accounting systems, enhancing operational efficiency and transparency, accelerating decision-making, and advancing data-driven asset management.
The initiative was implemented through the activities of the Egyptian-German Joint Committee on Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Protection (JCEE), in cooperation with consulting firm Nexus Analytica. Esmat also witnessed the signing of a contract for the digital platform of the national electricity grid between the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and Nexus Analytica.
The project aims to establish a fully integrated Digital PPA Management Center that will provide operational monitoring and unified oversight of solar power plants, wind farms, and battery energy storage systems (BESS). The center will also offer advanced production forecasting tools, performance analysis capabilities, enhanced asset utilization, and support for investment and future expansion decisions as part of the transition from traditional management approaches to proactive, data-driven and artificial intelligence-enabled operations.
Meanwhile, the Minister reviewed the latest developments in the implementation of the Abydos 2 project, including energization of the project's substation and preparations for connecting the facility to the national grid. The project is expected to add 1,000 megawatts of solar generation capacity and 600 megawatt-hours of battery storage capacity within the coming months.
Esmat also inspected work underway to add 270 megawatts to the generation capacity of the Benban Solar Park, raising the total capacity of the complex—which comprises 32 projects of varying capacities—to 1,735 megawatts. The expansion is part of the ministry’s plan to maximize returns from the landmark project, which has helped position Egypt as a leading player in the Middle East and Africa in the contracting, construction, operation, and maintenance of renewable energy projects.