Egypt produced 4,500 GWh of solar energy in 2021: Cabinet media centre

Hagar El-Shabrawy, Sunday 6 Feb 2022

Egypt's 32 solar power plants produced about 4,500 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in 2021, the cabinet media centre said in a statement on Sunday.

Solar
File Photo: Workers walk between photovoltaic panels at the Benban plant in Aswan, Egypt taken on November 17, 2019. Reuters

This is in addition to panels on buildings' roofs and a plant with a capacity of 26 megawatts belonging to the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), the statement added.

Egypt aims to generate 42 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030, the statement said, adding that Egypt's production of hydropower amounted to 14,000 GWh in 2021.

In addition, wind power projects produced about 5,400 GWh, while 86 GWh was generated from bio-fuel projects, the statement added.

The centre issued the statement to deny rumours that circulated on social media claiming that Egypt’s solar power plants had ceased operation after last week’s cool temperatures.

The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has affirmed that all the solar power plants in Egypt operate at full capacity across various temperatures throughout the year, the statement said.

Egypt’s solar power plants are situated at sites characterized by the strength of solar brightness throughout the year and are not associated with a specific season, the cabinet's media centre pointed out.

The sun shines in Egypt for between nine and 11 hours a day, making Egypt one of the most suitable countries for solar-energy production.

The energy sector represents about 13.1 per cent of Egypt’s GDP, according to government data.

Egypt has implemented multiple renewable energy projects over the past decade, including the Benban Solar Park in Upper Egypt's Aswan, which houses more than 32 solar energy projects from photovoltaic cells with a total capacity of about 1,465 megawatts.

Since 2014, the Egyptian government has been working to expand renewable energy sources to ensure energy security, and partnered with development banks to attract private investments in the renewable energy sector.

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