The Egyptian Electric Utility & Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency (EgyptERA) has agreed to increase the selling tariff of electricity produced from the projects owned by the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) by 14.55%. Sources at the Ministry of Electricity told Daily News Egypt that it was approved to sell the energy produced from solar and wind stations owned by NREA for 55 piasters per kw/h instead of current 48 piasters. This increase is the second, as NREA used to sell the production of Zafarana and Kuraymat energy projects for 34 piasters which was increased in August 2018 by 41% to 48 piasters and was further increased this month to 55 piasters. It was agreed to conduct a study every year to calculate production costs and determining prices based on variables. The sources explained that this increase will help NREA reduce losses it incurred due to previous low tariffs compared to the private sector projects, and pay its accumulated debts owed to the National Investment Bank (NIB), the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), and other entities. NREA has settled EGP1.85bn of its debts to the NBE and the NIB until last June. NREA needs EGP 150m to complete the settlement of its debts before the end of this year, bringing the total repayments to EGP 2bn. It comes in line with the Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli's decision to resolve the financial entanglements between ministries and government authorities as part of the country's economic reform plan. The sources added that EgyptERA has completed the necessary studies to determine the mandatory percentage of renewable energy and its cost, provided that the cabinet is responsible for approving, modifying, or applying it to specific sectors. The sources added that the percentage is determined based on the renewable energy capacities expected to be produced from existing plants and expected to be operated during the year, including the projects of NREA.
