Egypt is working to better harness a key source of renewable energy, a key government official tells Ahmed Kotb The rising importance of clean and renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, which raise environmental concerns, has encouraged Egypt to embrace wind energy as one such source. Renewable energy in Egypt accounts for 10.3 per cent of overall electricity, and wind energy receives the most attention. Currently Egypt produces 430 megawatts of wind energy from the wind farm of Zaafarana in the Red Sea governorate. "We aim for a 20 per cent share of electricity to be produced from renewable energy; 12 per cent of that from wind energy," says Aktham Abul-Ela, deputy minister of electricity and energy. Recently, the government has allocated 1.5 million feddans of government-owned lands for wind energy projects. These lands will are distributed in many governorates including Beni Sweif, Minya and Assiut. In May 2009, Egypt announced a bidding round for a wind farm with a capacity of 250 megawatts to be built in the area of the Gulf of Suez. Some 34 companies applied and a shortlist of 10 has been chosen. the shortlist includes Orascom Construction, Enel Green Power SpA, and Electricie de France among others. According to Abul-Ela these companies are expected to submit their final bids in 2011, since the farm should start operation by 2013. The farm will be operated on a Build, Own and Operate (BOO) agreement, which stipulates that the company controls the wind farm for about 20 to 25 years, which is the life expectancy of the turbines used. "After that the company can apply for permission to build a new farm or just hand it over to the Egyptian government," Abul-Ela said. The winning bid will be revealed by the end of this month and the farm should start operation by 2013. Electricity from wind farms is transferred through cables into the national electricity grid, which in turn distributes it to homes, factories and other businesses. The production cost of wind energy is about one million euros per megawatt, slightly higher than that of normal electricity. "Egypt is geographically and environmentally convenient for wind farms," he said. "But other factors like the higher costs of production, and costs of environmental studies that we conduct to find suitable places for the farms, represent barriers." The government is encouraging investment in wind energy projects by offering customs reductions and other financial incentives. The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced recently that it would give Egypt 120 million euros in loans for renewable energy projects. The World Bank, the German Development Bank and many other international corporations also support Egypt's renewable energy projects.
