NREA to be restructured into 2 renewable companies

CAIRO - 19 December 2017: The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) will be restructured into two entities, chairman Mohamed El-Khayat said Tuesday.

Speaking at the 1st Al-Ahram Energy Conference, Khayat said that the first entity will be named "The Sustainable Energy Authority" and will be responsible for setting needed regulations to organize the market, he said.

This entity will also identify market production needs of various types of renewable energy resources, taking into account the future requirements, Khayat added.

Coming under the restructuring plan as well is the establishment of a holding company that will manage NREA assets with a developed strategy that follows market regulations.

The Egyptian government is also moving forward on a mega project that involves private sector companies building solar and wind plants under a “feed-in-tariff” (FiT) scheme.

The plan set by Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker eyes generating 20 percent of Egypt’s energy supply from renewable energy resources by 2022.

In October, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, completed a $653 million debt package to finance building 13 solar power plants near Aswan.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) also approved financing a total of 16 solar projects in Egypt at a total capacity of 750MW with $500 million under the same scheme.