Utility-scale solar energy planning for Egypt

Energy supply is a main requirement for economic and social development. The scarcity of energy resources and the negative environmental impact generated by the use of conventional fossil fuel has initiated the interest in the use of renewable resources. Electricity production is a major consumer of energy. Decisions have to be made as to which energy resource to use for electricity generation. Intensive global research investigating the various renewable energy technologies, and most importantly their economic feasibility is present and increasing steadily. Nations worldwide have set targets for the share of renewable resources in electricity generation. The rapid technological development and the increasing number of installations have helped in reducing the equipment cost, giving thus opportunity for developing economies to deploy available renewable resources. In Egypt, a plan has been devised to install a capacity of 2,800 MW of concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) and 700 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) by 2027. The purpose of this research is to identify the most economical and sustainable technology mix to achieve the preset target. Levelized cost of electricity is the economic measure used for evaluating the economic feasibility of the proposed plan.