Egypt Targets 61.2% Renewable Energy Share by 2040

Egypt plans to raise renewable energy’s share of its electricity mix to 61.2% by 2040 under a five-trillion-pound programme to expand generation capacity and modernise the national grid, Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mahmoud Esmat said. Installed capacity is targeted to reach 126.8 GW by 2040, including 40.5 GW of wind, 24.7 GW of solar, 4.8 GW of nuclear power, 2.9 GW of hydropower and 49 GW of thermal generation.

More than 35 GW of generation capacity has been added over the past decade, including the 14.4 GW Siemens plants in Beni Suef, Burullus and the New Capital. Current renewable capacity includes more than 3 GW of wind and around 4 GW of solar, with another 12 GW of wind and 8.72 GW of solar planned. Battery storage is also being expanded, with 1.1 GWh added in 2025 and 2026 and a target of 14.32 GWh within three years.

Work is advancing on the 4.8 GW Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant, which is expected to save nearly eight billion cubic metres of natural gas annually once all four reactors are operational. Commercial operation is targeted for 2030. Transmission lines have meanwhile expanded from 44,200 kilometres to 62,500 kilometres over the past decade, while transformer substation capacity has risen from 99,600 to 240,000 MVA.

The government has allocated around 43,000 square kilometres for large-scale renewable projects and expects private investment in the sector to exceed USD 60 billion by 2030. Egypt is also advancing electricity interconnections with Saudi Arabia, Greece and Italy, while efforts to reduce losses have brought distribution losses down to 17.6% and expanded the use of coded meters to around 3.07 million units.