SOLAR POWER PLANTS IN EGYPT

Egypt: Strong outlook for CSP
Jason Deign, 29 July 2010 (CSP Today)

"…Egypt [ - among the top 15 gas and top 30 oil producers -] looks set to become a leading location for concentrated solar power [CSP], with its petrochemical wealth helping rather than hindering the process.

"The nation’s first solar thermal large-scale facility is nearing completion at Kuraymat, about 100 km south of Cairo, and earlier this year the US Trade and Development Agency announced it was funding a feasibility study for a 250MW plant in Upper Egypt…[B]ackers, such as the World Bank, which put money into the 20 MW Kuraymat integrated solar combined cycle facility, are keen to support further projects…"

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"…[Egypt’s] administration and private energy companies are wise to the fact that [its oil and gas reserves] could soon be used up servicing low-value domestic demand unless alternative energy sources are found fast…Egypt has the second-largest population of any country in Africa, and a third of its people are still children, pointing to massive rises in energy consumption in years to come as…affluence increases.

"CSP looks like an attractive way of providing this energy while ensuring the nation’s gas and oil reserves can be exported to improve Egypt’s balance of payments…Egyptian CSP could [also] find a convenient export market in the European Union, which has pledged to take 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020…"

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"…[Financing mechanisms] include a Clean Technology Fund with US$5 billion pledged by various donors and a US$5.6bn MENA CSP investment plan made up of US$4bn for 1 GW generation and US$1.6bn for transmission projects…[as well as obtaining] carbon credits by substituting gas with solar power…

"…[Egypt has effectively developed wind but] CSP is still viewed as a more expensive, less proven and more hyped energy source than wind power…Egypt’s electricity demand has risen by nearly 73% [in 8 years]… There is no single solution to satisfy this growing demand…instead, energy demand will be met through a viable energy mix, in which CSP will likely play a key role…"