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Egypt’s El Dabaa NPP, Benban solar plant, Gabal el Zeit wind farm major strides towards clean energy
As the world marks the first-ever International Clean Energy Day on January 26, Egypt held a ceremony marking the foundation-laying of the fourth power unit of El Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) as part of its march towards transition to clean energy.
Egypt has taken major strides towards clean energy by establishing Benban solar plant in the Upper Egypt governorate of Aswan, El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Matrouh governorate and Gabal El Zeit Zafarana wind farm in the Red Sea governorate.
El Dabaa nuclear power plant:
El Dabaa nuclear power plant plays a key role to support Egypt’s climate action and represents low-carbon and environmentally safe source of electric power.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi highlighted that the power plant will help reduce dependence on fossil fuel as recommended during the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28).
During a ceremony held in January 2024 to mark the foundation-laying ceremony at the fourth power unit of El Dabaa nuclear power plant, President Sisi said the crisis in global energy supplies that the world is witnessing today underscores the significance of the strategic decisions taken by the Egyptian State to revive the Egyptian peaceful nuclear program for the production of electrical energy.
This shall contribute to providing safe, cheap, and long-term energy supplies, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and avoiding fluctuations in their prices, he expounded.
President Sisi highlighted “introducing nuclear power into the energy mix that Egypt relies on to produce electricity is crucial to meeting the growing demands for electrical energy so as to fulfill the needs of economic and social development plans and contribute to boosting reliance on new and renewable energy, which achieves environmental sustainability and addresses climate change.”
“Unlike coal and gas power plants, the nuclear power plant will not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which will certainly have a beneficial effect on the environment and human health,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the ceremony.
El Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt is being built in full compliance with environmental standards, Putting said, pointing out that nuclear corporation Rosatom – the recognized leader in the nuclear sphere – is using the most advanced engineering solutions, cost-effective and reliable technologies in the plant’s construction.
Egyptian President Sisi noted that the construction of El Dabaa is ahead of schedule, which “reflects the scale of efforts that both sides are making to implement the project.”
Sisi highlighted that this historic event of establishing El Dabaa nuclear power plant is “a long-standing dream of the Egyptian people”, adding that the project will help Egypt “move forward along the path of development and industrial growth.”
For his part, Alexey Likhachev, the Director General of ROSATOM, said this historic event signifies the beginning of the main stage of the power unit construction, thus making the four-unit El Dabaa nuclear power plant the largest nuclear construction project on the African continent.
Likhachev pointed out “We commemorate today a landmark event in the history of Egypt’s nuclear energy and Russian-Egyptian relations. The first concreting of the Power unit 4 foundation slab launches the largest bilateral cooperation project since the construction of the Aswan Dam, namely construction of the first Egyptian nuclear power plant. Now all four power units of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant are under construction. This means that our Egypt site is becoming one of the two largest nuclear construction projects in the world.”
El Dabaa is the first nuclear power plant in Egypt to be built by Rosatom in the Matrouh Governorate on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea about 300 kilometers northwest of Cairo. This is Rosatom’s first major project in Africa.
By 2028, Rosatom will build four units of the plant with VVER-1200 reactors and will supply nuclear fuel throughout the life cycle of the NPP (60 years), as well as provide training, maintenance and repair services for 10 years after the start-up of each unit. The contract also provides for the construction of the first module of dry containerized storage of spent nuclear fuel by 2028. Egypt expects the NPP to reach full capacity by 2030.
Benban solar power plant:
The Benban solar park became a model of clean energy production in Africa as the continent strives to achieve the UN strategy in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Benban is now one of the largest solar parks in the world, with millions of photovoltaic panels, providing electricity to more than one million homes.
The plant’s total capacity is 580 MW, and the station includes 580 projects, the first of which includes 120 turbines with the capacity of 240 MW. 100 turbines were connected to the national electricity grid, and the second project includes 110 turbines with a capacity of 220 MW, connecting 75 turbines to the grid with the capacity of 150 MW.
The project created at least 20,000 jobs during the construction period, with an additional 6,000 permanent positions by the companies operating the park.
The Benban park extends over an area of 37square kilometers near the “desert road” between Aswan and Cairo.
Launched in 2018 with the commissioning of the first photovoltaic plant, this mega-project has been integrated into the strategy developed by the Egyptian New and Renewable Energy Authority. The aim is to contribute to increasing the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix to 42% by 2030. The park alone reduces carbon emissions by two million tons per year.
Gabal El Zeit wind farm:
Gulf of Zeit is the biggest wind complex in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with total installed capacity of 580 MW and about 3 TWh in three years’ production, which saving fossil fuel and reducing GHG emissions.
It consists of 3 phases, namely Gulf of Zeit 1, Gulf of Zeit 2 and Gulf of zeit 3 with installed capacity of 240MW, 220MW and 120 MW respectively. The project started in 30th Sep. 2015 and connected to the national grid in November 2018.
The wind farm complex applies a shut down on demand approach that provides a safe route for migratory birds.
The Gulf of Zeit wind farm complex added 580 MW of installed capacity to the Egyptian national grid in November 2018 and boosted the renewable energy installed capacity to about 1125 MW.
One of the main goals of establishing Gulf of Zeit wind farm complex is to increase the amount of clean energy injected to the Egyptian national electricity grid.
The total amount of wind and solar energy were representing 2.1% of the total national grid.
Gulf of Zeit wind farm complex contributes to reducing the fossil fuel consumption and the amount of greenhouse gases emission in addition to creating more than 1.7 million man/day employment opportunities in and outside Egypt.
The Egyptian government is cognizant of the need for a sustainable energy mix to both address increasing demand, and to move to a more environmentally sustainable and diverse electricity sector, according to the International Trade Administration.
The 2035 Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy, which builds on previous strategies, emphasizes the importance of renewable energy. Egypt is working on increasing the supply of electricity generated from renewable sources to 42% by 2035.
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