Egypt's production of renewable energy surges in 2019

CAIRO – 31 August 2020: Egypt nearly amplified its production of renewable energy in 2019, according to BP annual statistical review of world energy.

The data revealed that Egypt’s production jumped by 82.7 percent on an annual basis to reach 6.5 terawatt hours (TWh), exceeding the average increase of 14.3 percent during the previous 10 years.

It said that, solar energy production increased by 145 percent in 2019 to reach 3.7 terawatt hours, compared to about 1.5 terawatt hours in 2018.

“Wind power production also increased by 37.5 percent year-on-year, from 2.0 TWh in 2018 to 2.8 TWh last year,” it added.

In July, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, said that the sector’s strategy is being updated to expand renewable energy projects, to increase their participation of renewable energies.

Shaker explained that the electricity sector has succeeded in adding large capacities of renewable energies, which will reach 6.6 gigawatts by the end of 2020, and these added capacities will increase to about 8,200 megawatts after the completion of the projects under study.

According to BP report, the consumption of hydrocarbon vehicles decreased as oil consumption decreased by 1.8 percent to reach 743,000 barrels per day, while production decreased by 1.9 percent to reach 686,000 barrels per day.

It also showed that gas consumption decreased by 1.1 percent to reach 58.9 billion meters cubic meters annually, while production increased by 11 percent to reach 64.9 billion cubic meters annually.

Moreover, carbon emissions in Egypt decreased by 1.7 percent to reach 217.4 million tons in 2019, marking a decline from the average annual increase of about 2.6 percent during the 10 years from 2008 to 2018.