Egypt's current energy mix is 95 per cent fossil fuels (petroleum products and natural gas) and only five per cent renewable energy generated through water and wind. Experts point out that adding new sources of energy is necessary, as the current mixture is unbalanced and might threaten national security as a result of a decline in reserves and any disruptions to imports. Meanwhile, cheaper alternative and renewable energy sources are available. “Wind energy is better in the hot summer season and especially at night. Isn't that argument enough,” asked Mohamed Al-Sobki, director of the Energy Research Centre (ERC) at the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University. He added that wind energy currently contributes only 500 megawatts to the electricity grid, while this could increase to 10,000 megawatts. It takes 18 months to build and operate a wind farm, while building a power station running on coal takes three to four years and would not operate before 2019, Al-Sobki said. Solar energy now contributes only 220 megawatts to the grid, and there is also more room for expansion in this source of energy. “Solar energy plants can be built without delay and start operating in seven or eight months,” he said. The technology of manufacturing and installing solar energy cells on roofs is also becoming cheaper and “can reach LE0.7 or LE0.8 per kilowatt/hour,” Al-Sobki explained. However, the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable and more affordable electricity system will require utility regulators, utility companies and power producers to rethink costs and make appropriate resource-planning and policy choices. Another alternative could be the use of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is produced by shredding and dehydrating solid waste (MSW) with waste-converter technology. RDF consists largely of the combustible components of municipal waste, such as plastics and biodegradable waste. Al-Sobki said that in 2010 the General Authority for Industrial Development had called upon the cement factories to use RDF for 30 per cent of their energy mix. At the time they had agreed and said that they could reach the figure in two years, though this was not done, as the rising price of waste, now LE450-500 per ton, and the cost of importing rubber had both placed limits on what was possible. “The cement factories found that the plan would cost them the same to use one BTU (British Thermal Unit) of RDF as of natural gas, so why would they make the change,” Al-Sobki said. Before diversification Egypt also needs to limit wasted energy by rationalising consumption in houses and factories, he added. Raising the efficiency of equipment and machines was necessary to save huge amounts of wasted energy and up to 20 per cent of consumed energy. Al-Sobki said there was a need to activate the partnership agreements for natural gas exploration signed with foreign companies in 2010 and approved by law. “Through these agreements, Egypt will be able to receive natural gas at the price of $4.1 per British Thermal Unit, compared to $12 to $15 for gas imports now,” he said.
