Egypt prepares strategic plan for desalinating water from renewable energy sources

CAIRO – 23 February 2021: Egypt had prepared a strategic plan for desalination of water from renewable energy sources, in cooperation between the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Water Resources, according to Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker.

Shaker added during his speech, Tuesday, at the opening session of the first dialogue of the Energy Transfer Council, that the required land was identified with a 5-year plan aiming to produce about 2.9 million m3 / day.

He said that the hydropower storage stations are one of the solutions to support the reliability and stability of the network, explaining that as a result a 2,400-megawatt pumping and storage station project is currently underway in the Gulf of Suez, in addition to that a pre-feasibility study is being prepared to explore two other projects with a total capacity of 2000 megawatts.

The minister pointed out the interest that the sector is also paying to other new technologies such as converting waste into energy, electric cars and energy storage.

He expressed his deep gratitude to the Energy Transition Council (ETC) for organizing the first dialogue with Egypt to exchange ideas and experiences, in addition to promoting strategies and commitments towards addressing the issue of energy transition.

Shaker explained that the energy transition is a path towards the transformation of the global energy sector from relying on fossil fuels to zero carbon, pointing out that getting rid of carbon in the energy sector requires taking many urgent measures on a global scale to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change through a number of Among the measures represented in reducing energy costs generated from renewable energies, achieving development in energy and electricity storage technologies, increasing the use of electric cars and smart grid technology, and shifting from centralization to decentralization to generate electricity, transportation, distribution and regional and international electrical connection in order to benefit from all forms of renewable and clean energy.

The minister referred to the measures taken by Egypt to create a suitable environment for the transfer of energy, stressing that during the past few years, the Egyptian electricity and renewable energy sector was able to meet the increasing demand and overcome the challenges it faced, adding that the political leadership placed the issue of electric energy at its top priority as it is the main pillar For development in various fields of economic and social life, and considering securing the electricity supply as a matter of national security.

He mentioned the great interest and efforts made by the electricity sector to improve and develop all services, improve and develop transmission and distribution networks, including high-voltage transformer stations and control centers with investments amounting to about $4 billion.