CAIRO - 26 September 2022: The Egyptian energy sector represents 13 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) positioning as one of the main factors driving economic and social development, according to the Information and Decision Support Center - IDSC of the Cabinet.
The IDSC explained that this means that economic growth is linked to energy security and stability.
This came in a report issued by the IDSC on promoting industrial enterprises' use of renewable energy sources, as part of a series of "Visions on the Road to Development".
It said that over several decades, fossil fuels, especially oil and natural gas, continue to meet more than 95 percent of Egypt's primary energy, with more than 60 percent of the total demand for natural gas being met through electricity generation.
The report dealt with an assessment of the current situation of renewable energy in Egypt and its role in achieving sustainable development, explaining that Egypt enjoys an abundance of renewable energy sources with great future potential. The renewable energy sources are wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectric energy, and biomass energy.
Since 1970, Egypt has adopted the development of the necessary programs and appropriate technology to develop these resources, in cooperation with various countries and international institutions.
The issuance of Law 102 of 1986 establishing the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) is an important step for the development of renewable energy sources in Egypt. The authority’s focus was on solar energy and wind energy, and then extended to include biomass energy.
The strategy of the electricity sector in Egypt depends on the diversity of energy sources with the expansion of the use of renewable energy, in addition to encouraging investors to establish projects to produce electricity from renewable sources, in addition to stimulating the industrial sector to engage in the manufacture and localization of renewable energy technology.
The renewable energy strategy adopted by the country aims to increase the percentage of energy generated from renewable energy to 42 percent in 2030, in which solar and wind energy contribute the largest share of renewable energy sources, with the participation of nuclear energy by 3 percent, and thermal plants by 55 percent, by 2035 according to the annual report of the NREA’s annual report for 2020.
The report emphasized that the industry sector contributes about 17 percent of the GDP, and is one of the sectors that consumes the most different energy sources, as this sector comes in second place after the electricity sector with regard to the consumption of petroleum products and natural gas.
It is also noted that the fertilizer industry has acquired the largest share (about 35 percent) of the total energy consumption, and the iron and steel industry comes in second place (about 13 percent) and in the third place is the cement industry (about 6 percent), which means more gas emissions and global warming.
Therefore, Egypt seeks to implement renewable energy projects in general and the project of using solar energy in particular in the industrial sector, especially in the food, textile, and chemical sectors that consume the most thermal energy in manufacturing.
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