Egypt through the Ministry of Electricity intends to construct small hydroelectric stations with different capacities ranging between 2 to 5MW in Al-Qanatir al-Khayreyah and Delta cities.
The ministry has already identified seven eligible sites and in coordination with a German company and the Hydro Power Plant Executive Authority (HPPEA) conducted several studies to determine the feasibility of the projects.
The German Development Bank (KfW) has allocated around US $33m to finance the project and what remains now, according to a source from the ministry, is a green light which is expected before the end of the first half of this year from the ministry of irrigation.
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Currently, the average annual energy produced from existing hydroelectric stations in Egypt is approximated to be 13bn kw/h and this saves fuel equivalent to 3m tonnes of oil annually, in addition to its contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emission by 7.2m tonnes.
The Ministry of Electricity further considers adding bids of private companies to establish renewable energy plants to its 2035 Strategy which aims to produce about 47% of Egypt’s total energy from renewable resources.
According to Minister Mohamed Shaker, the ministry has formed several committees including the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to study offers by investors to establish energy projects with a total capacity of 5GW.
He emphasized that they will not sign any energy contracts or agreements beginning from this year before it ensures their suitability to the 2035 Strategy.
“Every single year, we shall announce our plans and target projects, upon which companies can apply to launch power plants and we shall choose the best technical and financial offers,” said Shaker.
