Mohamed El-Khayat, chairperson of the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), said that the authority is seeking to adjust its structure in order to cope with the requirements of the current period, as it has been decided that the company will be divided into two entities. The first will be named "Sustainable Energy Authority" and will be concerned with developing the required legislation for the energy market, as well as regulating the market and determining its production needs from different types of renewable energy, while taking into consideration planning for the future and determining its needs. According to El-Khayat, who spoke during the first Al-Ahram Energy Conference named "Egypt as a Regional Hub for Energy: Reality and Challenges", the second part of the plan includes establishing a holding company to be in charge of advanced asset management, according to market rules, and in a manner that guarantees their success. He said that a meeting was held yesterday between both the Ministries of Electricity and Environment in order to put forward solutions to deal with waste from renewable energy production, expecting the private sector to play an active role in the field. On the other hand, Sayed Al-Khodary, professor of engineering at Ain Shams University, said that Egypt has great capabilities that enable it to become a regional hub for energy. Al-Khodary added that the countries of the Mediterranean basin rely by 81% on natural gas for energy production, and by 18% on diesel, while reliance on renewable energy does not go beyond 1.9%. He noted that the situation in Egypt is different as there is a plan to expand in terms of relying on renewable energy, taking the percentage of this reliance to 20%.
