The German Development Bank (KfW) has allocated €30m to finance the construction of hydropower stations in seven sites in Qanater and the Delta. An official at the Ministry of Electricity told Daily News Egypt that a committee of the Hydro Power Plant Executive Authority (HPPEA) conducted a visit to the proposed sites, in cooperation with a consulting company, to study the implementation of the stations. The final report will be issued within two weeks. The sources added that the planned stations could have a total capacity of about 30 MW, including stations with different capacities ranging from 2-5 MW to be constructed in seven locations. In a related context, the HPPEA completed the operation of the Assiut hydropower station with full capacity of 32 MW. The plant consists of four units, each with a capacity of 8 MW. The plant will secure fuel worth EGP 100m. The sources said that the water stations achieve high operational efficiency compared to other traditional and renewable energy alternatives, and the economic cost is appropriate. The average annual production capacity of existing hydropower plants is about 13bn kWh, which achieves a fuel saving equivalent of about 3m tonnes of oil equivalent per year, as well as contributing to reducing the emission of about 7.2m tonnes of carbon dioxide. The HPPEA received a proposal from investors to cover the canals and banks of agricultural solar panels to take advantage of those areas in the production of electricity, which is now being considered.
