Cairo has a big power challenge on its hands, analysts say.
“Electricity is one of the big public issues in Egypt. The government needs to sort out this problem as soon as possible,” says Mohammed Nabil Hazzaa, a senior associate at the Egyptian law firm Sharkawy & Sarhan.
Before the 2011 Arab Spring, Egypt’s electricity position was perilous. Political and economic inertia in the years that followed coincided with rising demand for power. This caused the gap between electricity supply and demand to widen.
Demand for power is expected to continue to rise. Egypt’s electric utility and consumer protection regulatory agency expects the country’s power needs to grow by an average of 6.2 per cent a year up to 2035. Other agencies expect a steeper incline.
The country therefore needs to build a lot more power generating capacity. The government is keen to see new gas-fired power plants constructed. This will be necessary for Egypt to fulfil its basic electricity requirements.
At the same time, there are limits to the number of traditional new power plants Egypt may want to build. This is because its oil and gas production is dwindling. Even though the country still has reserves, rising extraction costs may mean that it no longer makes economic sense to continue production. According to Egypt’s 2030 energy strategy, it will soon become a net oil and gas importing country. It will need to buy fuel for traditional power plants from other countries. Egypt currently generates 95 per cent of its electricity from oil and natural gas. Paying international fuel prices can be expensive, particularly for a country like Egypt, which has seen the value of its currency slump by 27 per cent against the US dollar over the past five years.
Importing fuel would also put pressure on the state’s foreign currency reserves. It has been grappling with its reserves for several years and relies heavily on funds from other countries. While Egypt’s foreign currency reserve recently rose to its highest level since October 2011 after its supporters in the Arabian Gulf provided US$6 billion, the issue of reserves is likely to continue.
Importing increasing amounts of fuel for power generation instead of relying on its own reserves also exposes Egypt to price volatility. While international oil and gas prices are a lot lower than a year ago, Cairo is wary of future price rises and general volatility.
Renewable energy would offer Egypt some immunity.
If gas prices rise significantly and the cost of renewables diminishes, their prices may become more or less comparable.
“In five years’ time we are going to remove the subsidy [for renewable power],” says Lamya Youssef, the general manager for renewable energy projects at Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company.
“So maybe by that time renewable energy may be at the same cost as other power generation.”
business@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
Captain Marvel
Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L Jackson, Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn
4/5 stars
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Kandahar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ric%20Roman%20Waugh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EGerard%20Butler%2C%20Navid%20Negahban%2C%20Ali%20Fazal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Team Angel Wolf Beach Blast takes place every Wednesday between 4:30pm and 5:30pm
Subscribe to Beyond the Headlines
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
More on Quran memorisation:
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 77')
Everton 1 (Lindelof 36' og)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
