Egypt could surpass its 2022 renewable energy target of 20% of the electricity mix two years ahead of schedule, a top official of New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) told Zawya Projects.

Ihab Ismael, NREA's executive Vice President for Research and Technical Affairs said Egypt is expected to achieve its 2022 milestone this year. The government has set a renewable energy target of 42% of the electricity mix by 2035.

The country's total installed renewable energy capacity stood at 4.8 gigawatts at the end of 2018, according to data published International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Egypt is currently developing wind energy projects totalling 1.5 gigawatts of capacity, the NREA official said in an interview on the side-lines of an online roundtable on Tuesday.

He also disclosed that the Siemens Gamesa is involved in negotiations with the government to establish a wind turbine blade factory in the country. He added that the Spanish company has obtained land to build the project but declined to elaborate.

Participants in the roundtable called the use of renewable energy in sea water desalination and charging of electric vehicles. They also pointed out that there is a need to resolve pending issues such as regulations governing energy sales under independent producer model, investment controls under the net metering law and the cost uncertainties on the logistics front, especially with wind energy projects, due to the challenge of dealing with multiple agencies ranging from the finance ministry to the roads and bridges authority.

Commenting on the shortage of skilled workforce for wind energy projects in the country, Siemens Gamesa Egypt's CEO Ayman El Saad said the company has established a training centre in Ain Sokhna to bridge the demand-supply gap.

Ahmed El-Deeb, Chairman Chairperson of the Board of Directors at the Egyptian Company for Engineering Equipment (ECEE) said the most works lack Global Wind Organisation (GWO) certification that is essential for the installation and maintannece of windmills.

"We aspire to establish a training centre adhering to the rules of the GWO certification with the help of the government and the NREA, which will contribute significantly in reducing the cost of establishing wind power plants, and create job opportunities," he said.

(Reporting by Eman Hamed; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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