Hoping to make the most out of climate seemingly designed to exploit the potential of the sun, Italy’s TerniEnergia has purchased a $19.2 million order to establish a 47 MW solar power plant in Egypt.
The company will be constructing the project on behalf of an Italian utility in a location situated about 900 KM from the nation’s capital. Further, it will handle engineering, procurement and construction services.
The plant would assist in expanding Egypt’s energy options following several challenging years coping with increasing industry uncertainty.
Since the collapse of the government of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt has seen its already strained energy options further challenged by a mix of financial, security and political uncertainty. As domestic production collapsed, the country’s government struggled to meet its increasing demand for oil and gas, which was further complicated by security issues facing production and pipeline projects.
The country also faced an unsustainable fuel subsidy crisis and mounting debt to foreign producers costing the government billions.
Over the last two years, Cairo has worked to cut away at that dependence with a push for increased local production – an effort that could be significantly helped with the development of a “super giant” natural gas field off the country’s coastline.
Fellow Italian firm Eni was responsible for the discovery and has moved to expand its footprint in Egypt over the last several years, opening the door to the possibility of production for local consumption and potentially exports to the region.
The country’s energy diversification efforts have not been relegated to traditional oil and gas, as seen with the TerniEnergia effort.
According to a PV Magazine report, in 2014, Egypt announced a feed-in tariff program to support a 2.3 GW goal. The country’s New and Renewable Energy Authority also selected “69 consortia with large-scale projects of more than 20 MW as part of the initial FIT program for 2 GW of solar capacity.”
However, it will still have much to do to address with growing demand of over 80,000,000 if it hopes to move towards greater energy independence and a more manageable debt to international oil and gas producers.
Source: Forbes
