Ahead of COP27: Danish energy cooperation accelerates Egypt’s green transition

The Danish-Egyptian energy cooperation will assist Egypt in reducing its emissions by almost 50 million tonnes CO2 annually by 2035. At the same time, the tie-up provides new opportunities for economic growth and job creation in both countries.

By Magnus Højberg Mernild | [email protected]

25 October 2022

Denmark’s global cooperation

Denmark accounts for 0.1 % of global CO₂ emissions. In driving the global path to net-zero, Danish efforts can offer great inspiration that stands on the shoulder of societal efforts, underlining why public-private collaboration is essential in the quest to develop technologies, policies, and partnerships to accelerate the green transition. By partnering with some of the world’s biggest emitters and fastest-growing economies, Denmark puts its expertise to use where it holds the greatest impact.

Read more about green transition in Denmark

With more than 100 million inhabitants, Egypt is the greatest consumer of oil and natural gas on the African continent. 90% of the country’s energy supply is based on fossil fuels, primarily natural gas. The country’s electricity production is about six times greater than Denmark’s and rapidly increasing due to the economic growth in Egypt. With CO2-emissions of around eight times higher than in Denmark, Egypt is expected to double its CO2-emissions by 2050 unless a significant transition to more renewable energy is realised.

With the biggest COP delegation in history, Denmark looks forward to advancing the cooperation with the host nation Egypt while using the opportunity to showcase tangible ways to deliver on public-private climate action.

Egypt, a driver for green transition in North Africa and the Middle East

Egypt has set an ambitious target for renewable energy, such as wind and solar PV, to constitute 42 % of electricity production in 2035. This equals 63 gigawatt of renewable energy production in 2035, while the current total is 5.8 gigawatt. For comparison, the Danish production capacity from wind turbines alone was 6 gigawatts in 2020.

Egypt’s ambitions for a green transition require the implementation of new policies and significant changes in both planning and operation of the power system.

The challenge here is to develop a system, which can accommodate and adjust efficiently to the increasing shares of variable renewable energy from wind and solar PV.

In this field, Denmark has vast experience and is regarded as one of the world-leading countries. Successful integration of renewable energy in Egypt is thus one of the focal points in the cooperation between the Danish Energy Agency and the Egyptian authorities

Due to its geographical position, Egypt has the potential to become an engine for green transition in North Africa and the Middle East. Greater green ambitions and a stable, well-regulated market for renewable energy will attract manufacturing of energy equipment and components and thereby create green jobs. At the same time, this will increase Egypt’s opportunities for becoming a regional hub for design and production of components and, in turn, increase the country’s exports.

A global showcase at the Danish Pavilion at COP27

With the biggest Danish COP delegation in history, Denmark looks forward to strengthening ties with international partners while using the opportunity to showcase tangible ways to deliver on public-private climate action. Learn more about side events and activities at the Danish Pavilion at COP27.

Denmark and Egypt re-establishes close cooperation with a broader focus

The new strategic sector cooperation with Egypt builds on a relationship dating back to the 1990s when Denmark and Egypt cooperated closely in the field of wind energy.

Today, the cooperation builds on this relationship by updating previous analyses of wind resources in Egypt and investigating the options for renovation of older windfarms.

In addition, the cooperation will focus on developing energy scenarios and long-term planning of the energy system, which enables political decisions on a more informed basis. This means building capacity within the Egyptian energy authorities and enabling analyses and planning of the energy system, both technically and institutionally.

The cooperation will also provide the Egyptian decision-makers with a more nuanced and accurate picture of the future energy system, and visualize how Egypt can integrate a greater share of renewable energy into its energy mix, in a sustainable and cost-efficient way, without compromising the security of energy supply.

Besides energy modelling, the cooperation will transfer experiences from the Danish energy transition such as liberalization of the electricity market, as well as short-term forecasting of renewable energy production. This will support a future expansion of renewable energy and thus ensure a well-functioning market for electricity, as well as assist in the operation of the energy system.

In 2022, an extension of the cooperation in the field of energy efficiency was implemented as an initiative to reduce the increased future electricity demand, which is expected to increase rapidly following significant population growth. The expansion of the program will support Egyptian energy authorities in building capacity in their energy efficiency unit to develop, coordinate and manage an energy register for large energy consumers.