Egypt’s installed solar PV capacity has hit 2.25GW and its overall renewables capacity 6.97GW (2.83GW hydroelectric, 1.88GW wind) with start-up of the 500MW Abydos plant operated by the UAE’s Amea Power near Aswan in the south of the country. Local daily Al Mal on 22 October reported the start of commercial operations following the completion of grid connection tests. Amea, together with Norway’s Scatec, also recently signed up for 2GW/1.1GWh of solar/storage projects in Egypt including the addition of 300MWh storage at the Abydos site (MEES, 20 September).