Chinese EPCs and battery makers cement lead in MENA's storage build-out

A cluster of contract awards and announcements over recent months underlines the depth of Chinese engineering and battery supply chain involvement in the Middle East and North Africa's rapidly scaling energy storage market — much of it barely covered in English-language industry media.

Morocco: Africa's largest single-site solar-plus-storage

China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC, Energy China) was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Noor Midelt I solar complex in Morocco's Midelt Province on 2 September 2026. The project will comprise approximately 630 MWp of photovoltaic capacity and nearly 1,300 MWh of battery storage — expected to be the largest solar-plus-storage installation on a single site in Africa. The project was initially designed to combine PV with concentrated solar power before being revised to use battery storage, a decision reflecting the cost trajectory of lithium-based systems.

Egypt: independent storage at scale, plus local manufacturing

In Egypt, the Nefertiti independent BESS project at the Benban solar park in Aswan — 500 MW / 1,050 MWh, developed by UAE-based AMEA Power with an investment of about US$450 million — entered main construction in August 2026. The EPC contract is held by a consortium of CEEC International, Zhejiang Thermal Power and Southwest Electric Power Design Institute, with Gotion High-Tech supplying storage equipment. The project operates under a BOO model with a 20-year capacity purchase agreement and is supported by EBRD financing, with commercial grid connection targeted for Q2 2027.

The same developer-EPC partnership covers the Horus independent storage project at Zafarana (250 MW / 500 MWh). Separately, CEEC, Gotion High-Tech and AMEA Power signed an agreement in June 2026 to build a 3 GWh-per-year energy storage manufacturing facility in Egypt, with pre-construction work planned to start in Q3 2026 and production within 18–24 months — a landmark step in localising BESS production in North Africa.

Oman, Georgia and the wider pattern

• Oman: CEEC's energy storage unit signed a 2 GWh BESS battery-container supply agreement, including design, installation guidance, training and lifecycle O&M services;
• Georgia: a CEEC-led consortium won the EPC contract for the country's first large grid-side storage project — 200 MW / 200 MWh — funded by the Asian Development Bank and initiated by Georgian state power;
• Egypt: a 525 MWh independent storage EPC award at Zafarana adds to the pipeline.

For international buyers and financiers, the implication is straightforward: the cost and delivery capacity that make these tenders affordable are overwhelmingly Chinese, and project bankability increasingly depends on structuring — sovereign guarantees, capacity payments, DFI capital — rather than on equipment availability.