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Home / Egypt's Renewable Energy / Ataqa Pumped Storage
A giant 2.4 GW pumped-hydro plant built into Mount Ataqa — a vast natural battery that stores electricity by moving water up and down the mountain.محطة تخزينٍ مائي ضخمة بقدرة 2.4 غيغاواط مبنيّة في جبل عتاقة — بطاريةٌ طبيعية هائلة تخزّن الكهرباء بتحريك الماء صعودًا وهبوطًا في الجبل.
High on Mount Ataqa near Ain Sokhna, Egypt is building one of its most ingenious energy projects: a giant pumped-storage plant that works like a vast natural battery. With a capacity of 2.4 gigawatts, the Ataqa plant stores electricity not in batteries but in water — pumping it up the mountain when power is plentiful and releasing it back down through turbines when it is needed, helping to balance the grid as renewables grow.
عاليًا على جبل عتاقة قرب العين السخنة، تبني مصر أحد أكثر مشاريع الطاقة لديها براعة: محطة تخزينٍ مائي ضخمة تعمل كبطاريةٍ طبيعية هائلة. وبقدرة 2.4 غيغاواط، تخزّن محطة عتاقة الكهرباء لا في بطاريات بل في الماء — تضخّه صعودًا في الجبل حين تكون الطاقة وفيرة وتطلقه هبوطًا عبر التوربينات حين تُطلَب، مساعِدةً على موازنة الشبكة مع نموّ المتجدّدات.
A Battery Made of Water · بطاريةٌ من ماء
Storing power in a mountain.تخزين الطاقة في جبل.
Pumped-storage hydropower is the world's most proven way to store large amounts of energy. The Ataqa plant uses two reservoirs at different heights on Mount Ataqa: when electricity is plentiful and cheap, it pumps water uphill to the upper reservoir; when demand is high, it lets the water flow back down through turbines to generate power. With a capacity of around 2.4 GW across eight units, it acts as a massive battery, smoothing the gap between supply and demand on the grid.
Balancing the Grid · موازنة الشبكة
Power when it’s needed.الطاقة عند الحاجة.
As Egypt adds large amounts of wind and solar power — which vary with the weather and time of day — the grid needs ways to store surplus energy and release it later. Ataqa provides exactly this on a huge scale, absorbing excess power and delivering it during peak demand or when the sun and wind fade. This makes it a vital enabler of the renewable transition, complementing the new battery storage projects.
A Major Project · مشروعٌ كبير
One of several to come.واحدةٌ من عدّة قادمة.
Built into Mount Ataqa near Ain Sokhna at a cost of around $2.9 billion, the plant is a major feat of civil engineering. It is the first of several large pumped-storage schemes planned in Egypt, with others proposed near Luxor and elsewhere. Together with the High Dam's hydropower, these projects give Egypt the large-scale storage and flexibility its clean-energy grid will increasingly rely on.
Quick Facts · حقائق سريعة
Sources include recent industry and official reports on Egypt's renewable-energy sector (current as of 2026). Figures are approximate and several projects are still under development.