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Egypt is banking on project incentives to boost the share of renewables in its energy mix to 42 percent by 2030 and 65 percent by 2040, the Arab country’s electricity and renewable energy minister said.
Mahmud Esmat told a conference with the European Union in Cairo on Sunday that the incentives include long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) stretching to 20-25 years with state-backed entities, reduced custom duties on imports of renewable energy project equipment and components, and land usage rights.
In his address published by the cabinet on its Facebook page, Esmat said investors in renewable energy projects can obtain usage rights to government land (usufruct) in exchange for an annual fee equivalent to two percent of their energy production.
“We have been able to create an investment environment which is attractive enough for renewable energy projects through the introduction of a series of reforms intended to encourage the private sector to embark on such projects,” Esmat said.
Egypt’s current renewable energy generation from storage batteries as well as solar and wind power plants is estimated at 10 gigawatts (GW) and is projected to rise to 12 GW in 2026, according to official data.
Besides solar and wind energy, Egypt expects to generate nearly 4,800 megawatts (MW) from its nuclear plant when it is completed by the end of 2028.
The El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (El Dabaa NPP) in north Egypt is expected to generate nearly 12 percent of electricity production in Egypt, Amjad Al-Wakil, chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPAA) said last week.
(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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