Author: Ibrahim Shehata
The Egyptian Government has set renewable energy targets of 20% of the electricity mix by 2022 and 42% by 2035. However, by the end of 2019, the nominal capacity for electricity production in Egypt sat at 56 GW, with a surplus of about 25 GW. This means that Egypt has used 31 GW or just 55% of its available electricity capacity. That’s why the Egyptian Government set targets up to 42% of generation from renewable sources by 2035 (compared to an installed capacity of just 6% in 2020) is quite intriguing.
This is because the demand is expected to reach around 70-85GW by 2035. Therefore, the Egyptian Government’s long-term plan would then imply that the generation capacity could be expanded to 160 GW. In other words, Egypt would have 87% of reserve mar-gin by such time, which is far in excess of the more modest target of 20%-30% recommended in 2015. Accordingly, it remains to be seen how Egypt will accommodate such excess over the coming years, whilst still going forward with its plans for the electricity mix in 2035.
