Big Solar Energy Expansion Planned for Egypt

World countries are making slow but steady progress in building energy saving technology in an attempt to reduce the environmental footprint. The massive energy suppliers include biomass systems, hydroelectric plants, solar powered plants and wind farms. Egypt is attempting to become a leading developer of large solar plants, as the country recently announced intentions to build a second major solar facility. According to an energy monitor, the country is experiencing growing energy demands and along with obtaining financing for future endeavours, development may take awhile. 

The new solar power plant will cost around 700 million dollars to build and hopes to proved 100 MW of power. According to the Egyptian Electric Ministry, construction of the facility, to be located at Kom Ombo, will be a five-year project and should start somewhere between 2012 and 2017. Al-Ahram, a local newspaper, revealed that numerous contributors would finance the project including the African Development Fund, the UN Clean Development Mechanism and the World Bank. 

South of Cairo in El-Koraymat, a 20 MW solar plant is currently under construction and will be completed sometime during the latter part of the year. The plant will function beside a 120MW natural gas power plant. Natural gas plants presently supply the majority of the country's power along with a small number of hydroelectric plants. However, the Egyptian government hopes that by 2012, solar energy plants and wind farms will successfully produce 20 percent of the country's power. 

The continuous annual sunshine of Africa's desert regions provides the ideal environment for a solar powered nucleus. Nevertheless, progress is slow because the cost of the advanced technology is overwhelming. Whether or not Egypt will accomplish the 2012 goal remains to be seen, as energy requirements continue to grow exponentially every year and estimates suggest the country will require 1GW of solar power and 7.2 GW of wind power to meet the demands. 

The wind power requirement is far from completion, as current plant capability is only 430 MW. The present facilities are located along the coast of the Red Sea. New projects will be possible with the help of a multimillion-dollar loan the government recently obtained from the World Bank. The monies are expected to be used in part to connect lines at the Gabal el-Zait plant to the country's national grid. 

The World Bank agrees that Egypt has enormous potential for renewable resources and foresees future wind farms along the Gulf of the Suez and the banks of the Nile River. Egypt's dream for the future not only includes the capability to provide all the energy demands of the country, but also hopes to export resources to the Middle East and Europe.