Egypt Aluminium takes a 25-year contract for power from 569 MW of solar and a 100 MWh battery - the price is blank, and the smelter does not own the plant
On 28 October 2026 Scatec said it signed loans and is starting construction on the first phase of Dandara in Egypt. The phase is a 569 MW solar plant and a 100 MWh battery for Egypt Aluminium, under a 25-year contract with a sovereign guarantee. The loans are $217 million, about 80% of an estimated $271 million build. The price is not printed. The battery's power in megawatts is not printed. On 29 October the European Investment Bank put its own loan at up to $90 million, printed the solar as 569 MWp, and put first-year output at about 1,500 GWh. Scatec's page says about 1.4 TWh.
An aluminium smelter is buying power from a solar plant that comes with a battery. On these pages the smelter does not own the plant. The price of the power is not on them either.
On 28 October 2026 Scatec said it has signed loan agreements for the first phase of the Dandara project, which it also calls the Egypt Aluminium project, and is starting construction. National Bank of Egypt will join with a 20% ownership stake.
The phase, on Scatec's page. A 569 MW solar plant and a 100 MWh battery. The power goes to Egypt Aluminium under a 25-year power purchase agreement backed by a sovereign guarantee. A power purchase agreement is a contract to buy electricity. Scatec says the plant will generate approximately 1.4 TWh a year and lead to abatement of more than 550,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. The dollars per megawatt-hour are not printed.
The money, on the same page. Non-recourse project financing of $217 million, from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the African Development Bank, and the European Investment Bank. Scatec says that sum is approximately 80% of total estimated capital spending of $271 million for the first phase. 217 divided by 271 is 0.801 to three decimal places, by our arithmetic. The release prints approximately 80%. It prints the words "non-recourse project financing" and does not define them on the page.
Who owns it. After the National Bank of Egypt stake and what Scatec calls recently announced transactions with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Scatec holds 56%: 36% through that bank's platform and 20% outside the platform. 36 plus 20 is 56, by our arithmetic, and that matches the 56% line. The Egyptian bank's 20% and Scatec's 20% outside the platform are two different stakes. Adding the bank's 20% to Scatec's 56% is our arithmetic. The release does not print 76, and it does not name who holds the rest.
Scatec says it intends to invite more equity partners and to secure equity bridge loans, so its own equity goes in at the end of construction. It will do the engineering, procurement and construction, the asset management, and the operations and maintenance. Its construction scope is approximately 80% of total capital spending. That 80% is the construction contract. The other 80% is the loan as a share of the build. Same digits. Different lines.
Dates, on Scatec's page. Commercial operation of the first phase is targeted for the first half of 2028. Construction of a second phase is expected to start in the first half of 2027. The release does not print a megawatt size for the second phase.
The battery's hours. The page prints 100 MWh. It does not print the battery's power in megawatts. Hours are energy divided by power. Without the power, a duration is not a published figure. Dividing 100 MWh by the 569 MW of solar and calling the result the battery's length would mix the solar plant's size with the battery's energy. The release does not do that division.
The next day's page, from the European Investment Bank, 29 October 2026. The bank will provide up to $90 million, backed by the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, for the first phase in Qena Governorate. It prints a 569 MWp solar plant and a 100 MWh battery. Scatec printed 569 MW. The bank printed 569 MWp. Neither page defines the gap between MW and MWp.
The buyer, on the bank's page. Misr Aluminium Company, also written EgyptAlum, described as Egypt's largest aluminium producer. Scatec's page says Egypt Aluminium. The two pages describe one project. They do not print a line that says the two names are one company. The plant supplies the smelter under a long-term power purchase agreement. The bank does not print "25-year." Payment obligations are supported by a guarantee from Egypt's Ministry of Finance. Scatec's page says a sovereign guarantee. The bank's page names the ministry. It does not print the word sovereign.
Output, kept as two lines. The bank says that, on conservative estimates, the project is expected to generate around 1,500 GWh in its first year. Scatec says approximately 1.4 TWh. 1.4 terawatt-hours is 1,400 gigawatt-hours, by our arithmetic. 1,400 and around 1,500 are not the same printed number. Neither page explains the gap. The line of more than 550,000 tonnes of CO2 sits on Scatec's page. It is not on the bank's page.
Construction, two wordings. Scatec says it is starting construction. The bank says construction is expected to begin shortly, with commercial operations scheduled to start in April 2028. April 2028 sits in the first half of 2028. The pages do not say the two dates were written as one date. The bank does not print the $217 million total, the $271 million build, or Scatec's 56% stake. The $90 million is "up to," and it is one lender. Subtracting 90 from 217 and calling the result the other two banks is our arithmetic. It is not a line on either page.
Who runs it, on the bank's page. Dandara Solar Power S.A.E. will develop, construct, operate and maintain the plant. The bank says that company will be owned by Scatec, the lead developer. Scatec's own page prints 56%, with the Egyptian bank at 20%. "Owned by Scatec" and "56%" are both printed. They are not the same sentence.
A figure that is easy to paste onto the wrong line. The bank says the project supports Egypt's ambition to generate 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. That is a national target on the bank's page. It is not the share of this smelter's power, and it is not a price.
The fill. This battery sits with the solar plant. The releases say the plant supplies the smelter. They do not print a wholesale price for charging the battery from the grid, and they do not print a cents comparison with a gas plant. The smelter's contract price, the number that would land on a bill, is blank. A workplace that owns the panels on its own roof is a different contract from a 25-year purchase of someone else's output. An earlier note covered a near-site industrial contract with the price left blank. This one is the same shape, on a smelter, with the battery energy printed and the battery power left off.
Analogy: the smelter is signing up for power from a solar farm that has a tank beside it. The farm's owners and the lenders are on the pages. The price on the smelter's contract is not.
Good: A public date, a named industrial buyer, a solar size, a battery energy size, a 25-year term on one page, a loan total, a build cost, and a second page the next day that does not copy every figure.
Bad: No contract price. No battery megawatts, so no published duration. No phase-two size. The 1.4 TWh line and the 1,500 GWh line are not reconciled. MW and MWp are both printed and not defined against each other. The $90 million is a cap on one loan, not the $217 million.
Ugly: Treating $90 million as the whole financing. Subtracting it from $217 million and calling the difference a printed bank split. Dividing 100 MWh by 569 MW and calling that the battery's hours. Reading 42% by 2030 as this smelter's contract. Reading "owned by Scatec" as 100% when Scatec's page prints 56%. Pasting either output figure onto a workplace roof.
Soft next step: if a quote borrows the 25-year term, the price that goes with the term is not on these pages, and the battery's hours are not either.
Source: Scatec, 28 Oct 2026 - financing for the first phase of the Dandara solar and battery project in Egypt. Primary for the 28 October date, loan agreements signed, construction starting, National Bank of Egypt joining with a 20% stake, a 569 MW solar plant and a 100 MWh battery, supply to Egypt Aluminium under a 25-year power purchase agreement backed by a sovereign guarantee, approximately 1.4 TWh a year, abatement of more than 550,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, non-recourse financing of $217 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank, that sum as approximately 80% of estimated capital spending of $271 million, Scatec's 56% holding (36% through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development platform and 20% outside it), the plan to invite more equity partners and use equity bridge loans so Scatec's equity goes in at the end of construction, Scatec's engineering, procurement, construction, asset management and operations scope at approximately 80% of capital spending, commercial operation targeted for the first half of 2028, and second-phase construction expected in the first half of 2027. The page does not print a contract price, the battery's megawatts, a second-phase size, a definition of non-recourse, a combined 76% holding, or the holder of the remaining stake. 217 divided by 271 equals 0.801 to three decimal places, and 36 plus 20 equals 56, are our arithmetic. European Investment Bank, 29 Oct 2026 - up to $90 million for the Dandara solar and battery project. Primary for the 29 October date, a loan of up to $90 million backed by the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus, Qena Governorate, 569 MWp of solar and 100 MWh of battery, Dandara Solar Power S.A.E. developing, constructing, operating and maintaining the plant, that company to be owned by Scatec as lead developer, supply to Misr Aluminium Company (EgyptAlum), described as Egypt's largest aluminium producer, a long-term power purchase agreement, a guarantee from Egypt's Ministry of Finance, around 1,500 GWh in the first year on conservative estimates, construction expected to begin shortly, commercial operations scheduled for April 2028, and Egypt's ambition of 42% renewable electricity by 2030. The bank's page does not print 25 years, the word sovereign, $217 million, $271 million, a 56% stake, the CO2 figure, or a contract price. 1.4 TWh equals 1,400 GWh, and 217 minus 90, are our arithmetic. The pages do not explain the gap between 1,400 GWh and around 1,500 GWh, or between 569 MW and 569 MWp. April 2028 sitting in the first half of 2028 is a calendar reading. The pages do not say the two dates were written as one date.