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The 30MW wind farm at Zaafarana will be shut down in 2021 as its 20-year life span comes to an end, a Ministry of Electricity official stated.
The closure of the project is likely to affect the quantities of local renewable energy. This in turn reduces the value of the New and Renewable Energy Authority’s (NREA) financial resources in the coming years, which the authority seeks to counter by establishing more projects in the coming period, the official added.
The Zafarana has turbines that were built in eight phases between 2000 and 2010 it cover over 120km which produces 550MW of renewable energy. The Zafarana development is the 2nd largest station in east Africa after the Gabal El Zeit farm that produces 580MW.
The establishment of these projects was set up with the help of loans from Japan, Denmark, Spain, and Germany.
By 2022 Egypt plans to increase its renewable energy production to 20% of which 12% will be produced from wind energy, 6% from hydroelectric power, and 2% from solar energy.
Recently, The Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) of the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade has approved the construction of a small 90 kWp solar power plant. It aimed to supply solar energy to the University of Zagazig in Egypt. This power plant is part of the Egypt-PV project. It is financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and it has been implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which will act as the GEF Implementing Agency.
