Egypt’s wind power plans are ambitious, but an accelerated approach could boost the country’s installed capacity by 45%, equivalent to 1.15 GW, by 2027. The country has great potential with high wind speeds along the Red Sea coast and Gulf of Suez.

This would support the Egyptian economy by more than two billion dollars, with the addition of 164,000 full-time job opportunities, according to the report, whose details were followed by the Energy Research Unit. According to the report, the installed onshore wind capacity in Egypt is currently 1.7 gigawatts, but the country is expected to see the installation of between 250 and 700 megawatts annually during the period from 2023 to 2027.

In the current policy scenario (installation continues as planned), the World Wind Council expects to install 2.6 GW of wind capacity in Egypt between 2023 and 2027.

In the accelerated growth scenario (which depends on the acceleration of projects and the removal of barriers), the country is likely to see a total installation of close to 4 GW by 2027. In the same context, renewable energy capacity in Egypt is expected to grow by about 4.1 gigawatts during the period between 2022 and 2027, supported by onshore wind capacity, then solar photovoltaic energy, according to a recent report issued by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, OAPEC.

Egypt aims to raise the share of renewable energy in the electricity generation mix to 42% by 2035, to include 14% of electricity produced from wind energy, and 21% of solar photovoltaic energy, in addition to hydroelectric energy.

The World Wind Council recommends that the Egyptian government continue to maintain incentives for wind energy and support special purchase agreements for major wind projects, increasing the potential path for projects with a capacity of more than 20 megawatts.