As renewable energy news continues to be bombarded with talks of the Desertec Initiative, some might wonder how countries like Egypt can remotely take part when they can’t even get small-scale solar off the ground.
Annual solar concentration for Egypt averages around 2,300 kWh per square meter – 130% higher than Germany. Yet, per capital use of solar technologies is less than 10% of Germany’s. And while the North African country has instituted a national strategy to utilize 20% of renewable energy by 2020, solar energy remains at less than 2% with some industry specialists even estimating less than 0.1% usage.
In the 1980s, a ministerial legislation was passed that required all homes in newly built communities to utilize solar water heating with approximately 500,000 units being installed although most are believed to be inoperable or disconnected. Amr Mohsen, chairman and CEO of Lotus Solar Technologies, said that consumers were turned off by the shoddy quality of government-built solar water heaters used by state contractors.
John Hansen, an industry specialist, told Alternative Energy Africa that the only major solar power application was PV power for the remote telecom masts because Egypt would not have a mobile network otherwise. The source also said that there has been no public subsidy for power distant from the normal grid. He said that solar is the best option for these companies as it is more reliable, while other contraptions would have to maintain diesel generators in remote spots.
Underway is the Kuraymat project, located 90 km south of Cairo, in which the Egyptian government contracted Iberdrola to build a 150-MW hybrid solar/thermal plant at a cost of around €150 million. It was selected due to the area being uninhabited, flat, and high-intensity direct solar radiation. However, Hansen told Alternative Energy Africa that Kuraymat was not the best location as downward wind carrying all the industry pollution hinders the solar potential of the project. He said, “Egypt does not know where the best sites are [located].”
He went on to say that the answer could be found with the results and success from the telecom industries. The best site could potentially be found in Ismalia, located on the West Bank of the Suez Canal.
Some might wonder if Egypt has qualified workers to help get its solar industry underway, particularly since it was said that government-constructed solar heaters were not up-to-par. However, one industry executive said that there was no shortage of good construction and power engineers in the country, actually going so far as to say that they were better than most he had worked with in many developed countries of the world. One of government’s master planners told Alternative Energy Africa that “solar energy projects take a long time to implement and operate. It’s in the plan, but you won’t see any distinguished [solar projects] before a few years.” However, the legislation passed in the 1980s would make one wonder what exactly a few years means.
Another problem is that many business owners are unaware of the financial incentives that may be received for a company converting to solar energy. A grant from the Cairo-based Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) can be awarded to those factories that apply clean energy solutions equivalent to 15% of the conversion cost. Funding under the Clean Development Mechanism is also available to companies and governments to meet their emission compliance targets.
In addition, Egypt is getting geared for new regulations for its electricity sector that proposes the removal of energy subsidies and incorporates renewable energy feed-in tariffs. Environment officials said that what would really cause a shift to more renewable energy projects would be an amendment to municipal building codes. “We need legislation establishing that building permits will not be issued to investors unless they install solar water heaters on the roofs of their buildings,” said Hisham El-Agamawy, head of Energy Projects at the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency. “This will encourage owners of factories, offices, and apartments to think green.”
And while solar projects have high start-up fees, the lack of investment is not a problem. The Desertec Initiative which proposes using the Sahara to generate enough energy that could, as some analysts say, power Europe, has many big names onboard. But the question remains, despite its large solar potential, how is Egypt going to partake in Desertec if small-scale solar projects seem to fall by the wayside compared to wind projects throughout the country?