NREA prepares tender for 20MW-capacity solar power plant in Egypt
Power generation in Egypt depends heavily on thermal power (89 percent), of which 77.8 percent is generated from natural gas. However, since the Arab Spring of 2011, petroleum and natural gas development has not moved forward due to the unfavourable investment environment, and power outages are frequent due to the lack of natural gas.
The Government of Egypt wishes to diversify its energy sources from a perspective of energy safety and security, and aims to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels (natural gas, fuel oil and diesel fuel) by 2022 and increase the amount of electricity produced from renewable energy sources that have a low environmental burden to 20 percent of the total amount of power produced.
The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) is preparing a tender to establish a solar power plant in Hurghada (a beach resort town stretching 40km along Egypt's Red Sea coast) with a capacity of 20 MW.
The authority presented the Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) offer to finance the project to the House of Representatives.
The Ministry of Electricity said the project will be financed by a soft loan from the JICA worth $91m.