“It is evident that the current demand for energy in Egypt cannot be fully met. The simplest solution is to find ways to save energy,” said the ambassador of The Netherlands to Egypt, Gerard Steeghs, during a recent seminar on energy efficiency. The seminar was part of a series of events called in Arabic Huna Holanda (Here is Holland) whereby business and cultural events aim to introduce different aspects of the Dutch to Egyptians. Steeghs said importing gas into a gas producing country (Egypt) to cover its needs for electricity production and other sectors does not sound logical. He added that Egypt has a huge potential for renewable energy which can help solve the country's energy crisis, but needs large investments and time, which is running out. “Instead of focussing on a supply side solution, we need to look at demand side solutions by simply saving energy.” Energy saving in construction would be one important step, said Steeghs. “Energy efficient buildings can be very cost-efficient for both the consumer and the government,” said Florentine Visser, an expert on low energy building and urban planning in the Energy Efficiency in the Construction Sector in the Mediterranean (MED-ENEC). Visser said these buildings would reduce demand for cooling, heating and lighting, thus leading to less energy consumption. Visser pointed out that the need for energy efficient buildings, especially in Egypt, is greater today because energy prices are on the rise and security of supply is becoming much harder. “Properly designed buildings and installations don't require too much funding, but they will save both energy and money,” she stressed, adding that the MED-ENEC project financed by the EU carried out 10 pilot projects, one of them in Egypt, for demonstration and training purposes. In the pilot project, an administrative building in Sharm El-Sheikh was refurbished and technical measures were applied to the building to minimise electricity needs for cooling. The result was that total energy consumption was reduced by 47 per cent. “Such projects are very cost effective if we take into consideration the expected increase of energy prices in the future and the costly power production projects,” Visser said. “The energy supply deficit in Egypt is expected to reach somewhere between 24-35 per cent of the demand from 2022 to 2030,” said Anhar Hegazi, director of the energy efficiency unit in the Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC). “An aggressive energy policy reform is needed,” Hegazi stressed, adding that it is necessary to enhance exploration activities for fossil fuel energy resources, promote and upgrade energy efficiency in both supply and demand sides, and increase the contribution of renewable energy resources to electricity production. “It is critical that the government continue energy price reforms, develop and implement a proper energy efficiency law and associated regulations that can foster an energy efficiency financing market,” Hegazi pointed out. Hafez Al-Salmawi, head of the Egyptian Electrical Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency, stated that 99 per cent of Egypt's population has access to electricity, which means a “substantial increasing demand”. “We have 30,000 megawatts of installed capacity to the national grid, and according to the demand levels we need to double that capacity over the next 10 years,” Al-Salmawi said, adding that Egypt has to diversify its sources of energy supply along with improving energy efficiency which is currently hindered by low awareness levels and unavailability of special funds to carry out new projects.
