How Sharm el-Sheikh became green city ahead of COP27

CAIRO – 4 April 2022: Since Egypt was announced to be the host of the upcoming United Nations Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 27), all state agencies have been working to prepare for the global event, and steps were taken to declare the hosting city, Sharm el-Sheikh, a green city.

The plan to declare Sharm el-Sheikh a green city included a main goal, which is the use of clean energy and encouragement of environmental investment in the areas of preserving the environment, and working on the establishment of a number of projects related to new energy, which was a priority.

All cars and buses in Sharm El Sheikh will operate by electricity, and more than 100 charging points will be established for these vehicles, according to what the Ministry of Environment announced.

Also all hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh will also be powered by solar energy, through the spaces inside each hotel separately, using the net metering system, whereby the solar energy capacities will be increased with this system to reach 1000 megawatts instead of 300 megawatts.

For its part, the United Nations Development Program announced, in cooperation with the Industrial Modernization Center, that it will provide technical and financial support for the establishment of small solar plants in Sharm El-Sheikh.

In the same direction, lands will be granted to companies wishing to implement these clean energy projects, under the usufruct system for a period of 25 years, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Housing.

The Ministry of Electricity also announced that solar projects, up to 1 megawatt, would be exempted from the integration fees on the electrical grid.

Set to be held in November, the upcoming climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh will include a presentation of all renewable energy projects on par with Egypt, implemented by the private sector, with capacities exceeding 2500 megawatts.

Within the direction of clean energy, the first project to produce green ammonia will be commissioned at the end of next October, with a capacity of 100 megawatts.

The state is currently working on resolving offers for investment in renewable energy production projects by international companies at the end of next July, according to what the Ministry of Electricity announced.

In order to complete the picture in encouraging the use and launching of new energy projects, the executive regulations of the Waste Regulation Law were approved and projects to produce energy from waste with a capacity of 300 megawatts were approved.