Rome is strengthening its strategic partnership with Cairo along two complementary tracks – hydrocarbons and renewables – consolidating Cairo’s role as an energy hub in the wider Mediterranean and giving concrete substance to the Mattei Plan.
Two news:
- Production at Ajiba Oil Company, a joint venture between Eni and the Egyptian General Petroleum Authority, reached around 32,000 barrels per day in December, its highest level in the past three years.
- Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will provide €110 million to finance a 1,000 MW photovoltaic plant with 600 MWh of storage in Aswan, the largest project of its kind in Africa.
Driving the surge: Eni’s investments, combined with the use of advanced drilling techniques and seismic data analysis, have significantly improved field efficiency in the Western Desert.
- New wells in the Mleiha, Yasmine and Iris areas have strengthened Egypt’s national oil and gas output.
On renewables: The solar project falls under the Mattei Plan’s Africa Facility and represents the first operation implemented through this instrument.
- The plant is expected to cut CO₂ emissions by more than one million tonnes per year and enhance the stability of Egypt’s power system.
The big picture: Rome is supporting Cairo in both short- to medium-term energy security and the green transition, thereby avoiding a zero-sum trade-off between fossil fuels and renewables.
Bottom line: The dual track of conventional energy and clean power reinforces the Italy–Egypt axis and projects the Mattei Plan onto a concrete, industrial and geopolitical dimension in the wider Mediterranean.
