A solar plant with 10MW capacity has been greenlit for construction at the Assiut Oil Refining Company near Cairo, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
The 11-month-long project is expected to cost USD 11.2m (EGP 550m) and will be carried out by Egyptian contractor Enppi and MEA construction group Petrojet.
A similar project is also a work-in-progress by the Ministry, which will see the General Petroleum Company produce solar energy with a capacity of 5.6M. This project is expected to cost about USD 10.2m.
The Ministry commented:
“The two pilot projects will be carried out in the oil sector to generate electricity from solar energy to feed production wells using modern technologies. [And] in cooperation with major specialised companies, by using solar cell systems to feed wells during the day or by using batteries to store energy, which provides 24-hour power supply to wells.”
Demand for solar
The two projects are to be financed through the European Union’s ‘Support for Energy Policy Reform’ at no cost to Egypt’s oil sector, according to the Ministry.
The projects are intended to increase the availability of alternative and sustainable energy sources in Egypt, reduce the country’s consumption of petrol, and aid the increasing electricity demand, amongst other reasons.
Egypt is considered to have one of the highest potentials for solar energy worldwide, with the Benban Solar Park already extending over 37sqkm between the cities of Aswan and Cairo.
As the country is looking to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 42% by 2035, projects such as these are included in the strategy developed by the Egyptian New and Renewable Energy Authority.
