Egypt takes steps to increase renewable energy despite challenges

From afar, the endless landscape of solar arrays stretching toward the horizon can easily be confused with crops approaching harvest. But here, in the desert in southern Egypt, workers are growing another valuable commodity: electricity.

After the sun hits the photovoltaic solar panels, the thermal charge generates electricity, which is fed to four state-owned power plants that distribute energy throughout Egypt’s national power grid.

This is part of the country’s efforts to increase renewable energy production. With near-perpetual sunshine and windy Red Sea coastline, Egypt is well positioned to go green, experts say.

However, it is also a developing country and, like many others, it faces barriers to transition. Much of its infrastructure depends on fossil fuels, which provide electricity to a nation of about 104 million people.

solar farm Egypt’s flagship project, named Benban after a local village, puts it at the forefront of the African continent when it comes to renewable energy.

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Karim El-Ghandi, an expert on urban sustainability and climate policy at Chatham House, says Egypt has failed to reach its goal of having 20% ​​of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022. The current figure is now approaching 10%. %, according to the International Energy Agency.

There is less demand for solar energy, partly due to an influx of natural gas thanks to new discoveries located in the Egyptian part of the Mediterranean.

“In the last couple of years, we have seen less interest in complex renewable energy projects in Egypt, both in terms of solar, in the south, and wind,” he said.

As host this year global climate summit known as COP27 and now in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt has said it will put pressure on other countries to deliver on climate promises made at previous conferences. Egypt is not bound by any carbon cap, but it has vowed to mitigate and curb the rise in emissions from key polluting sectors such as electricity and transport.

The use of natural gas has also helped Egypt move away from burning coal and oil, much dirtier industries, but gas is still a fossil fuel nonetheless.

President Joe Biden of Sharm el-Sheikh, who attended the climate conference, said on Friday that the United States, the European Union and Germany will provide a $500 million package to fund and promote Egypt’s clean energy transition and to accelerate an ambitious the goal is to reach 42% of electricity generated by renewable sources by 2030, five years earlier than previously planned.

Biden also announced that they would work with Egypt. reduce green gas emissions by capturing “almost 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas that Egypt is currently flaring, venting or leaking from its oil and gas operations.”

Engineers talk next to photovoltaic solar panels at the Benban Solar Park, one of the world's largest solar power plants, in Aswan, Egypt, October 3.  19, 2022.

Engineers talk next to photovoltaic solar panels at the Benban Solar Park, one of the world’s largest solar power plants, in Aswan, Egypt, October 3. 19, 2022.
(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

“Thanks to this cooperation, Egypt has increased its climate ambitions,” Biden said, referring to the climate goals that countries must submit to the UN under the Paris Agreement.

The Egyptian government has revealed several details about how it will implement or fund the 2035 vision or revised 2030 plan that the US and Germany mentioned in a joint statement with Egypt on Friday. Foreign investment is likely to play a big role as countries in Europe seek solar energy in the south. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has provided $10 billion in funding for more than 150 projects in Egypt, and Benban is considered one of its major successes.

The stretch farm is designed to grow as solar demand increases.

“This opens up a lot of potential for us and other investors,” said Faisal Eissa, Egypt general manager at Lekela, the Dutch company that invested in Benban.

Egypt New and Renewable Energy Authority claims that Benban has already reduced the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. But there is still a long way to go. Renewables accounted for 6% of Egypt’s energy consumption in 2020, with petroleum products accounting for 36% and natural gas accounting for 57%, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Coal was only 1%.

Egypt may also have less incentive to invest in renewable energy as it grapples with domestic challenges, including an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and years of government crackdown on dissent. Last month, Cairo struck a tentative deal with the International Monetary Fund that would open up a $3 billion loan.

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The effects of climate change are already being felt in the Nile Delta, where rising sea levels are dropping salt that eats away roots and destroys farms, depriving Egyptian farmers of their livelihoods.

The Arab world’s most populous country accounts for just 0.6% of global carbon dioxide emissions. But it faces high levels of urban pollution. Most of the population lives in densely populated neighborhoods along the fertile banks of the Nile and its northern delta. Here, car exhausts and diesel-powered mass transportation litter the streets. Egyptians’ exposure to air pollution is on average 13 times higher than recommended by the World Health Organization. According to statistics compiled by the UN, it caused 90,559 premature deaths in 2019.

The country’s congested capital, Cairo, is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after the giant Zor offshore gas field, according to Climate TRACE.

Rest 90% of Egypt’s land is uninhabited desert. The Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency has said that by making more efficient use of its vast expanses and coastlines, the North African country will be able to produce more than half of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030.

This is a different look at the country’s sun-scorched landscape.

“People here have started to look at the sun as a source of energy,” said Ahmed Mustafa, who runs one of the many new logistics companies in the area that work alongside Benban developers and engineers to supply equipment.

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For the locals, the solar farm was a transformation. Thousands of people worked on the site when it was being built, and many remained as technicians and cleaners when it became fully functional.

Ultimately, El-Gendy said, developing more wind and solar capacity will depend on what makes business sense for the government, despite its good intentions.

“The need to expand the renewable energy sector depends on the commercial interests of Egypt,” he said.