China resumes talks to build Egypt’s first wind turbine factory

China’s Sany Group is in advanced talks to build Egypt’s first wind turbine factory as part of the country’s push to expand the use of renewable energy and save its dwindling hydrocarbon resources.

Egypt hopes to become a regional centre for the export of renewable energy products following agreements signed with a number of foreign companies to produce solar panels and storage batteries.

Sany presented their plans at talks in Cairo on Monday with electricity and renewable energy minister Mahmoud Esmat, the ministry said in a statement. The Chinese company made an initial pitch in January.

“The meeting discussed the progress of the work and the steps taken by the company to establish a wind turbine factory,” the statement said.

“It also covered transferring and localising the technology that the company owns in this field, and implementing wind energy projects with a capacity of 2,000 megawatts.”

There was no mention of the project cost or its location in Egypt.

Cairo has embarked on a drive to expand the use of renewable energy sources to save its hydrocarbon wealth following a decline in gas production and oil reserves.

Its renewable energy capacity stood at about 7 gigawatts at the end of 2025. The plan is to boost its share to 42 percent in 2030 and 65 percent in 2040, Esmat said.

Further reading:

• Egypt plans global tender for wind energy grid project
• Egypt-Saudi electricity link to meet peak summer demand
• EBRD funds 200MW solar project in Egypt’s Western Desert

In a report last year the ministry of planning and economic development said Egypt would invest EGP136 billion ($2.7 billion) into projects to develop its power and renewable energy sector during the fiscal year 2025-2026.

That spending is far higher than the investments planned in 2024-2025 of about EGP72 billion and about EGP95 billion during 2023-2024, the ministry said.