In an attempt to strengthen Egypt's electric power supply, the Ministry of Electricity is launching the second annual Egypt Power and Electricity Summit, which will showcase the government's national five-year plan (2012-2017) for electricity expansion. The summit will address methods of diversifying Egypt's electric power industry and expanding both the conventional and renewable energy markets, while also focusing on funding and technology solutions for wind and solar power. Minister of Electricity Ahmed Imam will inaugurate the event and provide a speech during its opening ceremony, which will be attended by senior government representatives, international investors and bankers, technology and solution providers, and renewable energy experts and professionals. International and local sector experts and solution providers will discuss issues related to electricity and renewable energy from a legal and financial framework in addition to strategies to help growing the sector. They will also showcase technological innovations and offer solutions to challenges facing the sector. According to a report of the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, the 2012-2017 five-year plan includes implementation of power projects with a capacity of 12400MW, with total investments expected to reach EGP 100bn. Along with Ministry of Electricity, the participating organisations include; Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, the World Bank, the New and Renewable Energy Agency, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing, Al Kharafi National Company, Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Egypt Electric Transmission Company, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Speakers of the summit include: Fathalla Shalaby, chairman of the Egyptian Electric Transmission Company; Samy Abou Zeid, head of Infrastructure Department at the Ministry of Housing; Atter Hannoura, head of Public Private Partnership (PPP) Central Unit at the Ministry of Finance; Harry Boyd-Carpenter, senior banker for Power and Energy Utilities at the EBRD; and Galal Osman, board member of the International Solar Energy Society (ISES) and President of the Egypt Wind Association. The summit is researched and organised by the International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC), with Al Kharafi and Omicron as lanyard sponsors and the Daily News Egypt as media sponsor. The event is planned to take place on 27-28 January 2014 at the Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel in Cairo. The Ministry of Electricity recently added 3,400MW to the national grid to cope with the country's energy needs in 2014. The extra supply will be achieved through running both Banha station at its full capacity 750 MW and in addition to the North Giza station at its full capacity of 1000 MW.
