CAIRO: Could Egyptian windmills one day eclipse Saudi oil wells? Capitalizing on the publicity afforded by his parent company Renova's sponsorship of the Argentina-Egypt football match this week, Avelar Energy's vice president of Middle Eastern operations Gianpiero Coppola stressed the importance of expanding renewable energy in Egypt. During an interview last Tuesday, Coppola said the potential for wind and solar power in Egypt is massive and called on the government to encourage private investment through tax credits and other incentives. "If you cover a relatively small portion of Egyptian territory with solar collectors, you will be able to supply the power needs of the whole of Europe, he said. "The problem is that the investment in order to do this would be huge. For a nation with a budding, energy-gobbling economy but relatively few oil reserves, the prospect of turning wind and sunlight into power is alluring. Even more so as analysts continue to forecast dwindling supplies and mounting costs of fossil fuels in the coming years. "The return for the country is going to be huge, said Coppola. "Currently the country is burning massive quantities of gas. There is the material possibility of replacing this with renewable sources. He said surplus gas now could translate to more export revenue or a stockpile for future generations. Egypt's interest in renewable fuels spans more than two decades. In 1986, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy founded the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to vitalize the sector. But the pace of growth has not always met expectations. Last year the NREA said it aimed for three percent of Egypt's energy to come from renewable sources by 2010 and 14 percent by 2020; Greenpeace, an environmental advocacy group, was quick to characterize this goal as "greatly under-utilizing the nation's potential. In the same report, Greenpeace suggested solar power in Egypt could generate as much as 230 billion kilowatts - two and a half times the country's need - based on availability of land and sunlight. Last year, Egypt's wind power capacity ranked 21st in the world, producing about 310 megawatts, up from 145 in 2005. Still, this figure is dwarfed by the 3,129 megawatts generated in Denmark, 15,145 in Spain and 22,247 in Germany. Egypt was ranked just one spot above Belgium, a country with less than one-seventh the population and one-thirtieth the land. Coppola said Avelar would focus on wind power in Egypt first because it is cheaper and more developed than other technologies. But the greatest potential is in solar energy, he said, despite restrictively high investment costs. "What we are trying to do here in Egypt is try to talk to the authorities in charge to find a way to make the investment feasible, profitable, he said. Countries such as the United States, Canada and Germany often furnish energy firms with tax credits and other incentives for investing in wind and solar technologies. The Electricity Feed Law in Germany and the Indian Solar Loan Program are often touted as particularly effective state measures. Coppola said renewable energy in Egypt could eventually power much of the region. "In the medium, long-term run, I see a Mediterranean loop, he said. "The potential of the solar resources in the country is so big that definitely, once this interconnection is in place, Egypt can target Europe for selling renewable energy. In 2003, Denmark and Egypt collaborated on a wind atlas for the region, which suggested the Gulf of Suez area holds the greatest potential for generating wind power, in a swath stretching roughly from Abu Darag to the Gulf of El-Zayt. Coppola said the areas able to support solar power are much greater. "Land availability is not a problem. What we need is to find a common understanding with the government to find a way to make our investment profitable, he said. "Private enterprise is very much depending on the quickness of the government.
