Egypt’s PM inaugurates Air Liquide’s €80m gas plant in SCZone

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated Air Liquide Egypt’s medical and industrial gases plant on Thursday, in the Integrated Sokhna Zone, part of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), with an investment of 80 million euros.

Spanning 25,000 square metres, the facility specialises in producing oxygen, nitrogen, and liquefied argon. According to Air Liquide Chairman Brian Shetty, trial operations began in May 2024, followed by full-scale production in August 2024. The plant has a daily production capacity of 770 tons of oxygen, 370 tons of nitrogen, and 30 tons of argon.

As part of its second phase, the plant will begin manufacturing wafer chips used in solar cell production, with an annual capacity of 1 gigawatt. Air Liquide Egypt is the sole producer of these wafers in the country, a move expected to reduce reliance on imports and support Egypt’s efforts to localise key industries and expand renewable energy production.

Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
Subediting: M. S. Salama