الترويج للاستثمار في الطاقة الجديدة والمتجددة والربط الكهربائي بين مصر وأوروبا
The Italian Embassy, in cooperation with the Chambers of Commerce, organized a round table to present investment opportunities in the fields of green transformation, new and renewable energy, green ammonia production, and electrical interconnection with neighboring countries, with the participation of more than 60 of the largest specialized companies from both sides to discuss Ways to support and enhance bilateral and regional cooperation, especially with Africa.
This was stated by Dr. Alaa Ezz, Secretary General of the Union of Egyptian and European Chambers, who moderated the forum, explained that the forum was honored with speeches from His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, His Excellency Adolfo Orso, Minister of Companies and Made in Italy, His Excellency Michele Camarone, Ambassador of Italy to Cairo, and Dr. Alaa Ezz, Secretary General of the Union of Chambers, Walid Gamal El-Din, head of the Suez Canal Axis Economic Zone, Hossam Heiba, head of the Investment Authority, Ayman Soliman, head of the sovereign fund, Khaled Abu Bakr, head of the Egyptian-Italian Business Council, and leaders of the two ministries from both sides, who presented investment opportunities in producing electricity from solar and wind energy and their applications in water desalination projects. Irrigation in the One and a Half Million Acres Project, the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia in the Suez Canal axis, electrical interconnection projects with neighboring Arab and African countries, and an electrical interconnection plan with Greece and Italy, in addition to investment incentives in Egypt and in the Suez Canal axis, and the economic and structural reforms undertaken by the Egyptian state to improve Business performance climate.
Dr. confirmed. Shaker said that Egypt is shifting to clean energy by accelerating the time frame to achieve the goal of reaching the contribution of electricity generation to 42% of the generation mix by 2030 instead of 2035, as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) were updated last June based on the Novi program that targets Speculatively stopping low-efficiency thermal generating units with a total capacity of 5 gigawatts and replacing them with renewable energy stations with a capacity of 10 gigawatts, at an investment cost of about 10 billion dollars to be implemented through the private sector in addition to the investments necessary to strengthen the electricity transmission network.
He stressed the keenness of The Egyptian leadership directed the preparation of a national strategy for the production of low-carbon hydrogen as a promising source of energy in the near future. Many measures were taken to develop hydrogen, as the national strategy for low-carbon hydrogen was approved, and the vision of the strategy included “for Egypt to become one of the world’s leaders.” In the low-carbon hydrogen economy, based on the leading global experiences and innovations in the production/export of hydrogen and its derivatives, renewable energy resources and Egypt’s strategic location, the strategy includes an ambitious goal for Egypt’s participation, representing 5-8% of the global commercial market for green hydrogen. Cooperation is underway with private sector companies to develop hydrogen projects, as a number of (27) memorandums of understanding have been signed so far with major global companies and alliances to implement projects to produce green hydrogen and its derivatives, with the total capacity required for the pilot projects reaching about 114 gigawatts of wind energy and 118 gigawatts of energy. Solar, 11 of which have been converted into a framework agreement, which reflects the attractiveness of the Egyptian market to international financial institutions and the encouragement of low-risk investment.
The Minister pointed to the economic investment opportunities currently available in Egypt in the field of renewable energy, as The Egyptian government sought to create an attractive investment environment for the private sector in the field of renewable energies. It began taking important steps to reform the legislative structure of the electricity sector, including issuing the electricity law, which paves the way for the complete liberalization of the electricity market. A law was also issued to stimulate investment in the field of renewable energy, which includes mechanisms that help the investor. To engage in this activity and allocate about 32,000 square kilometers to implement renewable energy projects with an expected capacity of 200 gigawatts and sign long-term energy purchase agreements 20 – 25 years, benefiting from the sale of carbon emission reduction certificates, granting land to establish the project in exchange for 2% of the electricity produced annually, and reducing customs on components and spare parts for renewable energy systems.
In light of the previously mentioned measures to stimulate private sector participation in Renewable energies: A large number of investors have become confident in the Egyptian energy sector, and many foreign and local investors came forward to invest in the sector’s projects. The sector succeeded in obtaining offers at a competitive price of 2 cents per kilowatt hour for energy produced from solar energy stations and 2.4 cents. Dollars per kilowatt-hour for energy produced from wind farms.
In this context, during the year 2022 and on the sidelines of the COP27 conference activities, 4 memorandums of understanding were signed with local and international companies in the field of wind energy projects to enter the sites and conduct the required measurements and studies. In order to add 28 gigawatts of wind energy.
The large renewable energy potential and these mega projects will help Egypt obtain programs for the local manufacturing of wind and solar energy components, especially depending on the availability of raw materials and skilled labor.
Perhaps one of the most important Egyptian success stories as a model for foreign investments in the field of renewable energy in Egypt was represented by the Benban solar energy project, which is considered a pioneering project in terms of financing mechanism and project size. 32 international and local investors participated in building the Benban solar station, which is the largest solar station in the world in one location, and the total contracted capacity reached 1,465 megawatts. This project has provided direct foreign investment to exploit Egypt’s enormous solar energy resources, with a total investment of about $2 billion, in addition to helping stimulate local economic growth, including providing more than 10,000 temporary and permanent jobs during the project’s implementation and operation period, in addition to reducing Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 2 million tons of carbon dioxide CO2, and the project was completed and connected to the network in October 2019. The project won the World Bank award for the best project in the world in 2019.
In continuation of the efforts that were made to add capabilities Generating a large amount of about 30 thousand megawatts, the electricity sector is currently working to raise the efficiency of electricity networks through an integrated plan to improve and develop electricity transmission networks to be able to absorb the electrical energy generated, reduce losses, and strengthen the national network, as during the past eight years, new transmission lines with a voltage of 500 volts have been added. K. With a total length of 4,613 km, which represents an increase of 150% compared to the state of the network in 2014. In addition to the addition of 21 500 kilovolt transformer stations with a total capacity of 33,375 Megavolt Ampere, an increase of 340% compared to the state of the network in 2014, the total investments in strengthening and modernizing the network amounted to Transport from 2014 to 2022 is about 116 billion pounds.
Cooperation is currently underway with the Belgian company Elia Grid to provide consulting services to the electricity sector to study the needs of the national network to accommodate renewable energies for green hydrogen projects and electrical interconnection and to determine the requirements for strengthening the network with the aim of addressing the large increase expected in the production of energy from renewable sources.
This is in addition to cooperation with the Swedish Fund for Financing Advisory Services to conduct technical studies regarding planning passive power, optimal network management for the integration of renewable energy on a large scale and implementing agreements. Power Purchase (PPA).
Belief in the importance of electrical interconnection and thanks to Egypt’s distinct geographical location at the meeting point of the three continents of Africa, Asia and Europe, and to ensure the provision of more sustainable energy and the creation of a common market for electricity, the electricity sector places within its strategy the promotion and strengthening of projects Electrical interconnection to exploit clean energy export opportunities, in addition to considering interconnection as one of the important means of securing and stabilizing the electrical system. It is also considered one of the basic pillars of cooperation between countries with the aim of reducing the capital costs and operational costs of producing electricity to meet a certain level of demand and to achieve savings in the use of primary energy.< /p>
Egypt participates very effectively in all regional electrical interconnection projects, such as the currently existing interconnection with the Arab Levant countries through Jordan, the interconnection with the Maghreb countries through Libya, the interconnection with Sudan, and the ongoing interconnection with Saudi Arabia with capacity 3,000 megawatts, through which Egypt will be connected to the Gulf countries and Asia.
Egypt also attaches great importance to the connection with Europe, and in this context we are currently working on a number of axes, such as the connection with Greece to export 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy, in addition to the connection with Italy. Due to the Italian network’s ability to receive capabilities, Egypt will thus become an energy bridge between Africa and Europe.
The global changes we are witnessing confirm that no country alone can deal with new challenges, nor can it alone. Securing all its energy needs, and regional integration is one of the basic pillars of sustainable development in the long term. The energy transition is no longer an option for countries, as it has become necessary for everyone to take steps to accelerate the transformation process. I am confident that our meeting today will pave the way for enhancing cooperation in the areas of energy transformation and maximizing the participation of renewable energy, green hydrogen, and promising technologies to achieve sustainable development and preserve the environment.
At the end of his speech, Dr. Shaker expressed his desire that the effective participation, interventions and opinions of Sedida would result in coming up with future recommendations and proposals for implementation and benefiting from the opportunities available in the electricity and renewable energy sector in Egypt, extending his thanks and appreciation to the conference organizers for their great efforts in Preparation and preparation for this important event. Adolfo Orso, Minister of Industry and Made in Italy, praised the achievements that have been made in Egypt, especially in the field of energy and development in general.
He stressed that his visit to Egypt comes out of the political interest of the two countries, as Italy pays great attention to investing in The field of renewable energies in Egypt and the localization of related industries. He stressed Egypt’s pivotal role in development and that it is an important gateway to Africa, pointing to Italy’s interest in supporting development projects in Egypt and Africa. He pointed out that Italy has become a gas center in Europe and seeks to become an energy center there, noting the interest that Italy attaches to electrical interconnection with Egypt and that Italy possesses extensive experience and great technology for manufacturing solar panels, stressing that his country aims to transfer and localize Italian technology to Egypt in the field of electricity. And energy, whether traditional or renewable.
He also pointed out that the presence of major Italian companies working in this field confirms Italy’s positive interest in encouraging investment in Egypt, especially with the great opportunities that Egypt provides to the private sector in all fields.
The two sides stressed the need for continued communication and coordination between Egyptian and Italian contact points to accelerate cooperation procedures related to renewable energies, transfer their technology, and localize the solar panel industry in Egypt, as well as electrical interconnection with Egypt.
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