Cairo: Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mahmoud Esmat and Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hany Sewilam discussed plans on Sunday, November 2, 2025, to upgrade the country’s major hydropower stations and strengthen the national electricity grid as part of efforts to expand renewable energy generation. Esmat and Sewilam met with senior officials to review progress on modernising key hydropower facilities, including the High Dam, Aswan I and II, Nagaa Hammadi, Esna, and Assiut plants, which together have a combined capacity of 2,832 megawatts.

According to State Information Service Egypt, Esmat highlighted that hydropower remains a cornerstone of Egypt’s updated energy strategy, which targets 42 percent of power generation from renewables by 2030 and 65 percent by 2040. Sewilam described the High Dam as Egypt’s ‘fortress of safety,’ noting that it is undergoing upgrades under the government’s Irrigation System 2.0 Programme to ensure sustainable water management and improve energy efficiency. The ministers emphasized the importance of coordination between the electricity and irrigation sectors to maintain grid stability and meet Egypt’s growing power demand amid the transition to cleaner energy sources.