Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mahmoud Esmat lauded the fruitful co-operation between Egypt and Sweden in the field of renewable energy.
He commended the support of the Swedish institutions to Egypt’s national energy strategy, which aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to 42% by 2030 and 65% by 2040.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Swedish Minister for International Development Co-operation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa and his accompanying delegation.
The talks tackled means of enhancing partnership and co-operation in the fields of electricity, energy storage, electrical interconnection with the European grid, green hydrogen, technological innovation, knowledge exchange in addition to maximising returns from clean energy.
In a statement Tuesday, Esmat noted that renewable energy projects in Egypt are carried out by both local and foreign private sectors, highlighting partnerships with Swedish companies in this domain.
He emphasised that electrical interconnection with neighboring countries is a key part of Egypt’s plan to strengthen its position as a regional energy hub, thus enabling the export of electricity generated from renewable sources, especially solar and wind, to European markets.
He added that the government is keen to develop cooperation pathways in electrical interconnection, which requires promoting renewable energy generation capacities and upgrading electrical grids.
Esmat asserted that Egypt is rich with natural resources, primarily wind and solar energy, referring to legislative amendments made to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects.
The meeting reviewed ongoing renewable energy projects, their expansion under the energy strategy, as well as joint projects to ensure electricity grid stability and efficiency, and maximising benefits from renewables through storage technologies.
The talks also dealt with the latest developments of putting into effect studies funded by Sweden’s development finance institution Swedfund on means of boosting renewable energy, particularly through adding 1000 MW storage batteries.
