From a distance, the endless landscape of solar panels stretching toward the horizon can easily be mistaken for crops nearing harvest. But here in the desert in southern Egypt, workers have been cultivating another precious commodity: electricity.
After the sun strikes the photovoltaic solar panels, a thermal charge generates electricity that runs to four government-owned power stations distributing power across Egypt’s national grid.
It’s part of the country’s push to increase renewable energy production. With near-perpetual sunshine and windy Red Sea coastlines, experts say Egypt is well-positioned to go green.
Yet it is also a developing country and, like many others, faces obstacles in making the switch. Much of its infrastructure depends on fossil fuels to power the nation of some 104 million people.
The solar panel farm — Egypt’s flagship project named Benban, after a local village — puts it at the African continent’s forefront regarding renewable energy. But questions remain over Egypt’s long-term green energy strategy and whether there are enough incentives for the cash-strapped government to supply 42% of the country’s electricity from renewable resources by 2035, as it has announced.
Karim el-Gendy, an expert at Chatham House who specializes in urban sustainability and climate policy, says Egypt has failed to meet its goal of having 20% of its electricity sourced from renewables by 2022. The current figure is now closer to 10%, according to the International Energy Agency.
There’s less demand for solar energy, partly due to the influx of natural gas, thanks to discoveries located in Egypt’s section of the Mediterranean Sea.
“We have seen less interest in the past couple of years in integrated renewable energy projects in Egypt, both in terms of solar, in the south, and wind,” he said.
As host of this year’s global climate summit, known as COP27 and now underway in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt has said it would pressure other nations to implement climate promises made at previous conferences. Any carbon emissions cap does not bind Egypt, but it has vowed to mitigate and curb its emission rises across key polluting sectors, such as electricity and transport.