Sunset in Aswan, Egypt (Source: Flickr, CC, By:Renate Dodell)
The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy of Egypt is actively seeking out international cooperation and funding to set up a geothermal energy map in Egypt, according to the Ministry of Electricity’s first undersecretary for Research, Planning, Authorities’ Follow-up and International Cooperation, Mohamen Mousa Omran.
Under cabinet approval, Egypt’s energy sector is targeting production of 20% of the country’s electricity needs from renewable sources by 2022 and 40% by 2035. According to their renewable energy plan, this will be achieved by a combination of wind energy, hydropower, and solar energy.
“We know we are a little bit late in terms of activating geothermal energy.”, mentioned Omran. “We would like to identify the area that possibly enjoy geothermal energy, with close collaboration with the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources.”
The ministry is not expected to face difficulties in securing funding for their renewable energy projects, as many financial institutions are eager to become involved in these types of projects, the undersecretary added.
Currently, the ministry is cooperating with a Chinese company to store solar and wind energy to be used in peak usage times. An Egyptian-Chinese alliance has also offered to launch a 100-MW solar power plant to support the operations of the cement factory of Building Materials Industries Company (BMIC). Investments for the solar power plant are estimated at $80 million.
