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Egypt makes progress on the waste-to-energy front: Egypt’s government is set to sign contracts with eight local-foreign consortiums to produce a total of 1.7 bn TWh of electricity from municipal solid waste across a number of governorates, Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WRMA) consultant Khaled Elfarra told Enterprise Climate. The projects will come at a total cost of USD 900 mn to USD 1.2 bn and will be implemented in Giza, Alexandria, Gharbia, Beheira, Damietta, Fayoum, Sharqiya, and Menoufia, he added.
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The companies in question: The firms involved in the projects include Infinity, Orascom Construction, Hassan Allam Holding, Taqa Arabia, Elsewedy Electric, the Arab Organization for Industrialization, the National Authority for Military Production, and MEDAF Holding — all of which have linked up with foreign partners to implement the projects, Elfarra tells us.
The details: The projects will recycle around 3.5 mn tons of waste annually for energy production, Elfarra continued, adding that the government will be responsible for collecting and providing the waste for the firms to use in the production process. The participating companies will be granted golden licenses from the government, as well as all the tax and non-tax incentives under the Investment Law.
Sound familiar? Former Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in April 2023 that the state has eight waste-to-energy projects worth EGP 10 bn in the pipeline.
To sweeten the waste-to-energy pot, Egypt’s Environment Ministry is considering raising the feed-in tariff rate for WtE plants, Elfarra told us. The proposed price increase would see the feed-in-tariff rate rise to EGP 2.35 / kWh — the tariff hasn’t changed since it was set at EGP 1.40 / kWh in 2019. The rate paid will fluctuate along with exchange rate fluctuations, he added.
What’s next? The proposed tariff increase has been sent to the Electricity Ministry and after it gives its greenlight the proposal will be forwarded to the cabinet, Elfarra added.
Straining the Electricity Ministry’s budget: While the increase could help attract investors, it would mean that the Electricity Ministry will have to pay more for the energy produced. The tariff is shared between the Electricity Ministry and the governorate where each project takes place. The Electricity Ministry would need support from the Finance Ministry to bear the cost of the increase, if approved, Al Mal reports, citing an unnamed government official as its source.
When will the contracts see the light? The government will ink the contracts with the companies once the new tariff receives the greenlight from the cabinet, Elfarra said.
It’s been a long time coming: The government has long been planning to boost electricity generation from municipal waste, initially setting a target back in 2020 of generating 300 MW of electricity from WtE projects by 2025. It had plans to issue tenders for WtE plants under a build-own-operate (BOO) framework to spur private sector interest in the field — a framework which attracted interest from some 92 companies at the time.
BACKGROUND- Egypt has a lot of WtE in the works: Egypt-based energy industry contractor Korra Energi inaugurated a waste-to-energy plant to repurpose the waste generated by Korra’s power plant and its flare gas projects in the Abu Rawash industrial complex to generate power last year. Egypt also inked a USD 120 mn agreement with a consortium led by Renergy Egypt to design, build, own, and operate its new waste-to-energy factory in Abu Rawash city last year. H2 Industries’ plans for a USD 3 bn waste-to-hydrogen facility in Egypt — capable of producing some 300k tons of hydrogen annually. Italian energy giant Eni also presented a proposal on an ambitious waste-to-energy project aimed at producing biofuels in 2023.
