Egypt, Germany cooperate on renewable plan

Egypt-Germany renewable energy cooperation leverages Egypt's wind, solar, and hydropower resources, financing a 200 MW Gulf of El-Zeit wind farm and a 32 MW Assiut Barrage plant, plus Aswan High Dam upgrades.

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Energy has announced that Egypt has set a goal to produce 20 of the country's electricity from renewable sources by 2010: 8 from hydropower and 12 from wind power and solar energy.

Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr. Hassan Younes stated that Egypt's wind and solar resources are bountiful enough that there should be no obstacle in achieving this renewables capacity target by year-end.

To achieve this objective, Egypt will cooperate with countries with expertise renewable energy, as well as global institutions that can support such projects and ongoing windfarm performance studies across key sites. In July 2010, Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif signed cooperation agreements between Egypt and Germany in the field of renewable energy, one of which is to create the 32-megawatt MW Assiut Barrage hydropower plant in upper Egypt and the signing of a loan agreement with Egypt to implement of a 200-MW windfarm in the Gulf of El-Ziet in the Gulf of Suez, as Egypt moves to add 1,000 MW to the wind grid over the coming years and with plans such as the Masdar wind project in Suez advancing.

Dr. Hassan Younes told Egyptian newspaper Al-Yum Al-Sabea that Germany contributed to the implementation of three projects in Egypt, as the country looks to natural gas and renewables to meet rising demand: efforts to renew and extend the life of Aswan's high dam, the refurbishment of generators and replacement of transformers, and a $26 million generator-replacement project.

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