Sahar Nasr, Egypt’s minister of international co-operation, said in a statement that the project, which aims to make “a quantum leap in local manufacturing of solar power in Egypt”, would be built in two phases, each of 500MW.

The deal was signed by Nasr, Egypt’s minister of military production Mohamed El-Assar and the vice-chairman of TBEA SunOasis board of directors Shin Bin.

TBEA SunOasis is one of China’s largest solar EPC providers and according to its website has been responsible for installing 15% of the PV capacity in its domestic market.

A subsidiary of polysilicon producer Xinte Energy, the company’s overseas projects include the first 100MW pilot phase of the 1GW Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park in Pakistan.

TBEA SunOasis will be responsible for transferring knowledge, providing engineering consultancy, and co-operating in research and development.

Egypt’s Ministry of International Co-operation will help provide the necessary funds to back the feasibility study and construct the power plant, in co-ordination with the development partners.

Egypt hopes to generate 20% of its power from renewable sources by 2022, massively increasing the role of solar, wind and hydropower.

The government is also attempting to modernise its power system, which is currently dominated by fossil generation.

That push has also seen a major wind power drive, including a 2015 deal with Siemens for 2GW of wind capacity and a rotor blade factory.