Connecting countries to climate technology solutions
English Arabic Chinese (Simplified) French Russian Spanish Yoruba

Egypt

Official Name:
Arab Republic of Egypt

National Designated Entity

Type of organisation:
Government/Ministry
Name:
Ms. Lydia Elewa
Position:
General Manager, General Department of Climate Change Technology and Research, Ministry of Environment
Phone:
+20 1001827833

Energy profile

Type: 
Energy profile
Energy profile
Extent of network

Egyptian electrification rates in 2008 were approximately 99.4% according to the International Energy Agency (IEA); this rate is among the highest of the continent with total urban access to electricity, and a 99% access rate in rural areas. However, approximately 500,000 people still lack access to electricity.Currently, grid connected renewable energy projects in Egypt enjoy the right of access and priority in dispatching.The national grid primarily consists of 500, 400, 220 and 66 kV transmission and distribution lines.

Renewable energy potential

Solar energyDespite undergoing radical advances, solar technology penetration is negligible considering that  Egypt receives some of the highest solar radiation in the world and 96% of the country is desert, making it a prime location for a variety of solar energy technologies and applications. Egypt is located within the Sun Belt countries with annual global solar insolation ranging from 1750 to 2680 kWh/m2/year from North to South and annual direct normal solar irradiance ranging from 1970 to 3200 kWh/m2/year from North to South, with relatively steady daily profile and small variations making it very favourable for utilization.Both the Solar Radiation Atlas and the German Aerospace Centre estimate Egypt’s economically viable solar potential in the range of 74 billion MWh/year, or many times Egypt’s current electricity production. The Energy Research Centre at Cairo University’s Faculty of Engineering estimates that 6 MW of solar photovoltaics are currently installed in Egypt. In addition, a 150 MW integrated-solar combined-cycle power plant is under construction in Kureimat, with a solar component of 30 MW.Wind energyThe first phase of the Wind Atlas for Egypt, produced by The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and the Risø National Laboratory (Denmark), was finalized in March 2003 with the publication of the detailed Wind Atlas for the Gulf of Suez. This atlas includes wind data for 13 sites covering the decade from 1991 to 2001. The second phase of the project, the Wind Atlas for Egypt: Measurements and Modelling 1991–2005, was released in 2006, covering Egypt’s entire land area based on a comprehensive eight-year wind-resource assessment. The purpose of the Wind Atlas was to establish a meteorological basis for assessing Egypt’s wind energy resources in six designated regions: the northwest coast, the northeast coast, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea, and the western desert. The majority of the assessed areas exist in state-owned lands, making them ideal for development.According to the Wind Atlas, the western part of the Gulf of Suez is home to some of Egypt’s best wind resources. Here, average yearly wind speeds surpass 7 m/s, and there is potential for some 20,000 MW of wind capacity. The Gulf of Suez is the region where both short- and medium-term plans for Egypt’s wind energy developments are focused.As of 2008/2009, Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), the authority affiliated with the Ministry of Energy that manages Egypt’s clean energy portfolio, has installed 425 MW of wind power, including a wind farm at Zafarana.  Zafarana has been operational since 2004 and has a capacity of 360 MW, where wind averages 9 m/s. Egypt has registered Zafarana as a CDM project. Though wind penetration is small at present, Egypt’s experience with wind projects goes back 20 years, with a plant of installed capacity of 405 MW.Various studies indicate that electricity generated from wind resources represents the best opportunity for Egypt’s renewable energy to reach competitive prices with electricity generated from oil and gas.Biomass energyThe biomass resource in Egypt has been estimated at 40 million tons/year, or 3,600 ktoe/year. Small- and large-scale biogas digesters have been proposed for power generation. Approximately 800 small digesters for home use are installed, whilst large-scale digesters are still being implemented. Bagasse and cattle manure have also been mooted as potential biogas feedstocks. The gasification of sewage sludge in waste water is already being used in the 23 MW El-Gabal El-Asfer plant, and agricultural wastes have been identified as having a high potential in the country.Geothermal energyNo electricity generation based on geothermal resources is currently installed; however, thermal use amounts to approximately 1 MW. Several geothermal spas are located across the country, primarily with temperatures in the region of 28-70 ºC.HydropowerIn 2009, renewable energy, mainly hydropower, accounted for 12% of Egypt’s electricity generation. Government policy has consistently emphasized hydropower, but there is a view that most potential hydro resources have been already developed. Egypt’s hydropower potential is about 3664 MW with an estimated energy of 15,300 GWh/annum. There are currently five main hydropower generation locations, all of which located on the River Nile. Almost all the electricity generation comes from the Aswan High Dam and the Aswan Reservoir Dams. The Aswan High Dam power project has a theoretical generating capacity of 2.1 GW, although low water levels often prevent it from operating anywhere near design capacity. An ongoing refurbishment program is expected to extend the operational life of the turbines by about 40 years and increase generating capacity at the dam to 2.4 GW. The remaining hydropower sites are considered very modest when compared to the Aswan sites.

Energy framework

In the early 80s the Egyptian government noted that the traditional energy resources would be inadequate to meet future needs. In 1982, a national strategy for the development of energy conservation measures and renewable energy application was adopted and in 1986 the new and Renewable Energy Authority was established in order to be the focal point for renewable activities in Egypt.The Renewable Energy Strategy of 2008 marked a vital step in this effort, setting a target of reaching 20% of total electrical energy mix from renewable energy (RE), including hydropower by 2020. Taking into account current hydropower capacity, and projections for that hydropower, it is expected that 12% of contribution from renewable energy sources other than hydropower will need to be added by 2020 (i.e., equivalent to installed capacity of 7,200 MW). The Strategy identifies concrete steps, including large pilot implementation of solar projects and electrification of rural areas, development of mini and micro hydropower plants with capacity of less than 100 MW, assessing potential for geothermal and developing 1,000 MW of biomass from agricultural and municipal waste. The Strategy also promotes the local manufacturing of RE equipment, including incentives for activities supporting localization of RE technologies. As part of its efforts to implement the Strategy, EgyptEra coordinates with Egypt’s Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC), which is responsible for direct contact with manufacturers.A proposed feed-in tariff is also to be made available to wind projects, specifically those under 50 MW, in order to promote private-sector participation in the renewable energy sector. The Government hopes that the private sector will contribute roughly 2,500 MW to the country’s renewable energy capacity by 2020.Under Egypt’s five-year plan (2007/2008– 2011/2012), Egypt intends to add 7,750 MW of power generation capacity to meet the expected average annual demand growth rate of 6.38%. For the five-year plan (2012/2013– 2016/2017), an additional 11,100 MW will be needed to meet the expected average annual demand growth rate. Thus Egypt is looking to a portfolio of resources to increase supply, including rapid addition of thermal plants, most of which are combined cycle gas.  In January 2010, the Egyptian government announced that it was considering constructing five independent power projects, with a total capacity of 3,500 MW. Recently built combined cycle plants include Cairo North (1,500 MW), Nubaria (1,500 MW), Talka (750 MW) and El-Kureimart (750 MW).The Egyptian National Plan (2012-2017) includes the implementation of:100 MW concentrated solar power plant, in South Egypt.20 MW photovoltaic grid connected plants, 4 MW every year.The next Egyptian National Plan (2018-2022) has set a target of 23% renewable energy sources by 2022. It will be split into:Installation of 2.550 MW of concentrated solar power.Installation of 500 MW photovoltaic (PV) arrays.Installation of 1.2 million m2  of Solar Water Heaters (SWH).

Source
Static Source:
  • Type: 
    Publication
    Publication date:
    Objective:
    Sectors:

    The goal of this report is to provide an understanding of global non-ferrous metal scrap flows in the context of non-ferrous industry developments over the 2000 to 2011 period. The focus of this study is on copper and aluminium as the two largest non-ferrous metals in terms of both material tonnages and market value. The report consists of four chapters. The first chapter, presented here, provides a brief backdrop to the analysis on non-ferrous scrap flows. It outlines growth in metal demand and the underlying reasons for this growth.

  • Type: 
    Publication
    Publication date:
    Objective:
    Sectors:

    This report provides historical and projected estimates of emissions of non-carbon-dioxide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from anthropogenic sources. It provides a consistent and comprehensive estimate for 92 individual countries and 8 regions. The analysis provides information that can be used to understand national contributions of GHG emissions, historical progress on reductions and mitigation opportunities. Although this document is being published by the U.S.

  • Type: 
    Publication
    Publication date:
    Objective:
    Sectors:

    This dissertation studies the global greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement potential of the nitrogen fertilizer industry up to 2030. During the study, a database of the major nitrogen-producing countries that make up 80 per cent of global production was created. The database focused on energy use, energy intensities, GHG emissions and intensities of the three major fertilizers: ammonia, urea and nitric acid.

  • Type: 
    Publication
    Publication date:
    Objective:
    Sectors:

    This tool is designed to provide policymakers and interested individuals and groups with overviews of policy tools and approaches to improving fleet-wide automobile fuel efficiency and promote lower carbon dioxide (CO2) and non-CO2 emissions from cars, along with case studies that depict these approaches from developed and developing countries.

  • Type: 
    Publication
    Publication date:
    Objective:

    Freely available climate and climate-related data is essential to catalyze the changes in policies, investments and technologies that will be needed if we are to move towards a climate-smart future. The Climate Change Knowledge Portal is a central hub of information, data and reports about climate change around the world. With this portal you can query, map, compare, chart and summarize key climate and climate-related information. Open data: all of the climate data featured on the Climate Change Knowledge Portal has been published as open data resources.

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Country of registration:
    Germany
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member

    Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy  is a research and academic organization established in 1991 with the mission to undertake research and develops models, strategies and instruments for transitions to a sustainable development at local, national and international level. Sustainability research at the Wuppertal Institute focuses on the resources, climate and energy related challenges and their relation to economy and society. Special emphasis is put on analysing and stimulating innovations that decouple economic growth and wealth from natural resource use. 

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Country of registration:
    Netherlands
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member
    Sector(s) of expertise:

    Vereniging FME-CWM is a public sector organization with the mission to promote collaboration, knowledge exchange and promotion of Dutch products internationally. Their demonstrated expertise lies in deployment of renewable energy technologies such as solar and wind as well as energy storage in different regions of the world. 

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Knowledge partner
    Country of registration:
    Denmark
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member
    Knowledge Partner
    Sector(s) of expertise:

    Quercus is an advisory type of an institution established in 2012 with the mission to positively improve and optimize living conditions for people and the working climate for public and private enterprise in the face of globalization. Quercus Group works with regional economic development in three main areas: Cluster Development, Network and Partnership facilitation, Investment and export promotion. 

     

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Country of registration:
    South Africa
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member
    Sector(s) of expertise:

    Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) was registered as a non-profit company in November 2000 and with implementation of the new Companies Act in 2011. Sustainable Energy Africa promotes the development of an equitable low carbon, clean energy economy throughout Southern Africa. Through their work they promote the more efficient use of conventional energy, the transition to more sustainable energies such as solar and wind power, access to safe and affordable energy for all, and a holistic view of sustainable development.