First high-level renewable energy conference to kick off in Cairo Tuesday

The director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Adnan Amin arrived in Cairo on Monday to partake in Egypt’s first conference on renewable energy, which is set to start Tuesday.

The three-day event, which will be held in Cairo and attended by Egypt's Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker, aims to develop the use of renewable energy resources in Egypt. 

The conference will bring together investors and national policymakers from Egypt and across the Middle East and North Africa to advance energy transformation across Egypt as it pursues short and medium-term targets and capitalises on falling technology costs. 

The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and IRENA are co-organising the event. 

The conference will witness the release of IRENA’s Egypt Renewable Energy Outlook report, a comprehensive assessment of Egypt’s full renewable energy potential.

Egypt aims to source 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022, rising to 42 percent by 2035 as it works to meet rising demand for power.

Total installed capacity currently stands at around 3.9 gigawatts, much of which is from hydropower.

IRENA Director-General Amin is set to present the report’s key findings in the presence of ministers and high-level guests.