Egypt to Build Solar, Wind Power Plants with 2000 MW Capacity

The Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker announced on Thursday that the ministry is about to construct a solar and wind power Plant with a capacity of 2000 megawatts, indicating that it will be completed before the end of this year.

This came during the inauguration of the Siemens Energy Services Center and the Egyptian-German Academy for Technical Training at the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).

The Academy represents a strategic alliance between Siemens and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)-on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

It offers an innovative public private partnership model which supports occupational training to engineers and technicians in all industries and offers them the opportunity to develop their skills in a variety of topics, including workplace safety and automation.

Shaker referred to the cooperation between the ministry and German giant "Siemens", which contributed to the establishment of 3 major power stations in Egypt, stressing that the achievements made in the sector are considered unprecedented.

He added that 220 kV transmission lines have been established with a length of 6,000 km, almost double the network that was in place.

He noted that it is expected that the share of renewable energy in the national electricity network will reach 20% by the end of 2020.

The minister of electricity confirmed that the new stations succeeded in saving more than $1 billion due to the significant increase in the production of electrical energy.

In his speech, the minister touched upon the electrical interconnection between Egypt, Jordan, Libya and recently Sudan, pointing to the great abundance of electric power in Egypt.

It is noteworthy that Egypt is one of the countries in the solar belt region that is most suitable for solar energy applications.

The Academy was inaugurated by Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG, Karim Amin, Executive Vice President of Generation at Siemens Energy, in the presence of the German Ambassador in Egypt, Cyrill Nunn, and Chairman of Suez Canal Zone, Yehia Zaki.

On his Part Zaki said that the Academy and the services center is a strong addition within the economic zone, adding that the center will train more than 5,500 Egyptian youth, including engineers and technicians.