Egypt wants to double its current power generation capacity of about 30,000 megawatts by 2020 – a target that is seen as key to support ambitious economic growth plans. It may need more gas to get there.
To meet it, the government is seeking to draw on the expertise of global and regional players from Siemens and General Electric, to the UAE’s Taqa and Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power.
The country’s power generation sector relies on natural gas for 68.7 per cent of its electricity production, according to the Egyptian state-owned Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC).
From conventional power generation using natural gas and coal, to renewable energy schemes using wind and solar, some of the industry’s biggest names have pledged to invest more than US$20 billion.
According to consultancy Frost & Sullivan, the majority of new power projects will use natural gas as a feedstock.
Frost & Sullivan power analyst Anup Barapatre said that natural gas and coal would total 84 per cent of the new capacity. That poses another dilemma for the country’s already strained economy.
“Egypt will have to import more gas,” said Mr Barapatre, who estimates current gas production to be 4.7 billion cubic feet per day. However, the country will require an estimated 700 million cubic feet of additional gas per day to cater to the electricity needs in peak seasons,” he said.
Egypt sits on an estimated 77 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of proven natural gas reserves, up from 2010 estimates of almost 59 Tcf. However, much of the potentially large gas discoveries in deep offshore areas such as the Mediterranean are undeveloped.
Because the drilling is more complex and therefore, more expensive in such blocs, exploration companies are reluctant to commit investment.
Egypt pays foreign companies US$2.65 per million British thermal units, which can make drilling these costly deepwater assets uneconomical.
The government has said it would consider paying more to help with the development, but to date there has not been a change in the price.
Last year Egypt produced 56.1 billion cubic metres of natural gas, a 7.7 per cent decrease from the previous year, according to the BP 2014 Statistical Review.
BP renegotiated its 2010 agreement for the $12bn West Nile Delta project, which includes its latest Atoll discovery.
A company spokesman said that this discovery, in addition to the Salamat find in 2013, would form a good starting point for another development. However, more appraisal and development planning is needed and “this will take some years”.
The spokesman said: “Any eventual agreement with the government will take account of the commercial challenges.”
Frost & Sullivan said that the country was in discussions with some key players to get more financial help. Egypt is talking with the International Monetary Fund, and countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are keen to support the [natural gas] feedstock,” Mr Barapatre said.
Sharjah-based Dana Gas revised its contract with Egypt to offer an alternative payment method that the company said would ultimately increase its investment in Egypt.
The firm signed an agreement with the Egyptian government that allows Egypt to barter its portion of the natural gas profit, putting it toward monies owed.
“The fact that we signed the agreement means we’re now accelerating investment into the country,” said Robinder Singh, investor relations director at Dana Gas.
“The import replacement has an economic value of at least a couple of billion dollars – it’s a sizeable boost,” said Mr Singh.
Although official import figures have not been released, Egypt expects to increase natural gas imports this year – a necessity in providing the feedstock needed by planned additional power plants.
Acwa views Egypt as a very important market, but it also hopes to help diversify the country’s energy mix to generate a more sustainable and reliable power solution.
“It’s a key driver in looking into efficient energy solutions,” said chief executive Paddy Padmanathan.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Overview
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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What is tokenisation?
Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
