Egypt and the Great Energy Debate

March 26, 2007

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The 'Steps Towards a Nuclear Free Middle East’ seminar was held jointly by Greenpeace with the Institute for Peace Studies based at the Alexandria library. The seminar was hosted in the library - the Biblioteca Alexandrina.

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Alexandria, Egypt — Egypt is at energy cross-road; it faces choices about what energy sources it will use in the future. Conventional fuels are becoming increasingly expensive and there is recognition that these fuel resources are finite. Some estimates indicate that indigenous natural gas and oil reserves, on which Egypt's electricity generation currently relies, will run out in about 30 or 40 years, making the transition to alternative energy sources a pressing need to avoid stagnant economic development.

Greenpeace and the Institute for Peace Studies based at the Alexandria library held a semiar on ''Steps Towards a Nuclear Free Middle East" in the Alexandria library - the Biblioteca Alexandrina .

Greenpeace’s Peaceful Energy Co-ordinator Paul Horsman presented a briefing paper entitled "Egypt and the Great Energy Debate" to this meeting outlining a way forward for Egypt's energy needs. According to this briefing paper Egypt can meet its energy needs 80 times over from renewable sources.

"Egypt and the Great Energy Debate" Summary:

Renewables are available in Egypt

In Egypt there is over 80 times more energy readily available from renewable sources than is needed for current electricity production.

The amount of electricity produced in Egypt per year (2004 figures) is 91.72 billion KWh and the amount consumed is 84.49 billion KWh. However, the amount of solar radiation available in Egypt is between 1900 KWh/sq metre/year in the north and 2600 KWh/sq metre/year in the south. If the average for the country is taken as 2300 KWh/sq metre/year then there is at least 230 billion KWh of solar radiation – over two and a half times the amount of electricity produced for the whole country.

But it is not only solar technologies that can provide for the needs of Egypt. In combination, the total economically available renewable energy resource in Egypt is 7,573 billion KWh per year. This is over 80 times the amount of electricity produced per year. This is actually half the technically available renewable resource, so as renewable energy collection technologies improve, twice this amount will become available i.e. 15,086 billion KWh.

Renewables are Cheaper

Renewable technologies are cheaper to build, with lower operation and maintenance costs, than nuclear power.

The construction cost of the new CSP project being built by the Egypt government is estimated at US$140 million for 140 MW– roughly US$I million per MW.

In comparison, the cost to build the proposed nuclear power plant is estimated at US$1.5 billion for 1000MW– roughly US$1.5 million per MW; in other words, it is one and a half times the costs of concentrated solar thermal power.

It is also important to note that US estimates for the development of a nuclear power plant are much higher, averaging US$4.0 billion for a 1200MW which is over US$3 million per MW which means that the construction costs for nuclear could be as much as three times the cost of CSP. These are just the building costs; they do not include the costs of decommissioning, of dealing with nuclear waste, nor of the fuel – problems which do not exist with renewable energy.

Current Capacity

The Government of Egypt has a target of only 3% of energy from renewables by 2010, greatly under-utilising their potential.

Total installed hydro capacity is currently 2794 MW. This includes 270 MW each from the Aswan 1 and 2; 2100 MW from the High dam; 90 MW from the Isna Dam; and 64 MW from the Naga Hamady Dam 12.

Total installed Wind Power is 315 MW - 95 MW from Hurgada and 220 MW from Al-Zafarana facilities.

The Egypt government has a renewable energy target of 3 per cent by 2010; yet the resources available could provide a much larger contribution if the right direction, encouragement and framework were provided.

Reviving the Nuclear Threat

Nuclear power is enjoying an upsurge in interest in the Middle East. In September 2006, Egypt became the first country in the region to claim officially that it is resuming its nuclear programme; which had been frozen since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

More detailed plans for a 1,000 megawatt power station at Al-Dabah have subsequently been proposed by the Minister for Electricity and Energy. The site, on the Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria, has been designated for nuclear programmes since the 1980s. This decision appears to be the first stage of an Egyptian Electricity Ministry plan to build three light-water reactors along the north-west Mediterranean coast. Russia, China, and the United States have expressed interest in the project. The government has stated that that the studies related to the Nuclear power plant will be finished by the end of 2007.