Egypt Energy Situation E04

Electricity

General Data

Table.9: The General Electricity Situation in Egypt

	Electricity
	Production	Consumption	Exports	Imports	Installed Generating Capacity
Rate	171.9 billion kWh	150.4 billion kWh	1.158 billion kWh	43 million kWh	38.88 million kWh
World Ranking	24	25	57	106	27

Electricity Access

According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s 2018 report, only around 300,000 people of the whole Egyptian population is currently without access to electricity.

Table.10: Electrification Percentages in Egypt

	Electrification
	Total Population	Urban Areas	Rural Areas
%	99.6	100	99.3

Installed Capacity and Generation

Table.11: Percentages of Different Electricity-Generating Energy-Sources in Egypt

	Electricity Generated From:
	Fossil Fuels	Nuclear Fuels	Hydroelectric Plants	Other Renewables
% of the Total Installed Capacity	90.5	0	7.3	2.2
World Ranking	58	83	125	115

Between 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, the total installed capacity increased about 6 %, reaching 30,803 MW, due to added thermal plants. The installed capacity development by type of generation since 2008 is outlined in table 12.

Table 12: Installed capacity development by type of generation (in MW) 2008-2013

	2008/2009	2009/2010	2010/2011	2011/2012	2012/2013
MW
Renewable	425	249	687	687	687
Steam	11,458	11,458	12,859	12,684	13,808
Hydro	2,800	2,800	2,800	2,800	2,800
Combined Cycle	7,178	7,137	9,327	10,077	10,080
Gas	1,641	2,841	1,376	2,826	3,428
Total	23,502	24,762	27,049	29,074	30,803

In addition, Egypt has 30 decentralized power plants, mostly diesel and gas turbine units which are not connected to the national grid. The combined installed capacities of these plants added up to 224 MW in 2012/2013. Approximately 234.5 GWh of electricity were supplied to local users including tourist resorts.

Egypt is a net exporter of electricity, importing 77 GWh while exporting 474 GWh of electricity in 2012. In 2012/2013, the average percentage of network losses were 11.02%.

Between 2001 and 2012, electricity production rose from 83,282 GWh to 164,364 GWh. The main source for the production of electricity is gas (66%) followed by hydro (18.2%) and oil (15.6%). The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) operates with five-year plans. The current one (2012-2017) foresees the installation of 15.000 MW additional capacity. However, due to the increasing demand, the reserve margin is still expected to remain tight.

Consumption

The main consumer of electricity in Egypt is the residential sector which accounts for 42% of the total consumption, followed by the industrial sector (28%). The consumption of the residential sector has been steadily increasing in the recent years. According to the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, this is due to two factors: the expansion of residential compounds and new communities as well as the use of domestic appliances, air conditioners in particular, during hot weather. The development of the electricity consumption per sector is outlined in table 13.

Table 13: Electricity consumption by sector (GWh) 2008-2013

Sector	2008/2009	2009/2010	2010/2011	2011/2012	2012/2013
GWh
Industries	37,273	38,916	40,702	42,098	39,887
Agriculture	4,617	4,834	4,927	5,560	6,230
Utilities	4,714	5,555	5,759	6,010	5,904
Public lighting	6,982	7,050	6,186	6,537	6,210
Governmental entities	5,563	5,443	5,977	6,385	7,664
Residential	43,811	47,431	51,370	56,664	59,757
Commercial & others	8,754	9,674	10,238	10,715	14,605
Total	111,714	118,903	125,159	133,969	140,257

Grid

In 2012/2013, the carrier grid consisted of 43,634 km total transmission lines and cables. The grid is subdivided into six geographical zones, namely Cairo, Canal, Delta, Alexandria and West Delta, Middle Egypt and Upper Egypt. The country’s entire territory is covered. The network is interconnected with the grids of Libya, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. There are ongoing studies for interconnections with Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Eastern Nile Basin (Sudan and Ethiopia) and Greece.

Table.14: Indicators of Egyptian Grid

Category	Installed Capacity	Max Load	Transmission Grid	Generated Energy
Indicator	45192 MW	30400 MW	45000 Km	186320 GWh

Electricity prices

The prices of electricity in Egypt range among the lowest in the world. The prices are fixed by the Egyptian and are highly subsidized. The tariff structure varies according to the type of consumption (i.e. residential, commercial, industrial) and amount consumed. Since the tariff is higher for higher consumption, there is an incentive to consume less. The lowest category of the residential tariff, up to 50 KWh/month, has remained unchanged since 1993 at 5 piasters per KWh.

Since 2007, the government has been trying to cut costs for subsidies. In July 2014, electricity prices were increased as part of a five-year plan which aims to start generating profits from electricity, which is currently sold for less than half its production cost.

Egypt Energy Situation E03

Consumption

Egypt is by far the largest consumer of oil and natural gas in Africa, showing 22% of petroleum and other liquids of the continent's total consumption and 37% of its dry natural gas consumption.

The main drivers of the rapid growth of the country's consumption of oil and natural gas can be summarized in the following:

1. The increased industrial output.
2. Economic growth.
3. Intense extraction projects of oil and natural gas.
4. Population growth.
5. The inclining rate of private and commercial vehicle sales.
6. The generous subsidy policy, that is focused on energy products.

Through this sub-chapter, different consumption data will be presented, using different sources, to get a holistic view as possible of the energy consumption situation in the country.

Table.4: Egypt’s Primary Energy Consumption since 1965

Year	1965	1975	1985	1995	2000	2005	2010	2015	2016	2017
Rate	7.8	10.5	28	37.3	48.4	60.5	78.4	84.4	88.2	91.6

Table.5: Egypt’s Primary Energy Consumption by Fuel 2016-2017 

	Oil	Natural Gas	Coal	Nuclear	Hydro-Electric	Renewable	Total
2016	42	42.4	.2	-	3	.6	88.2
2017	39.7	48.1	.2	-	3	.6	91.6

Table.6: Egypt’s Final Consumption of Different Energy Sources during the 2000s

	2000	2005	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Coal	453	203	204	188	188	200	211	224
Oil	17898	20156	27009	22573	26333	35213	36086	37028
Natural Gas	4274	9182	12719	18202	19505	20956	21446	21960
Electricity	5559	7918	12060	12324	12306	12668	13134	13630

Table.7: Egypt’s Industrial Consumption of Different Energy Sources during the 2000s

	2000	2005	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Oil	5461	5548	3716	3279	3133	6369	6713	7080
Natural Gas	2072	5567	6649	6789	8002	9083	9303	9536
Electricity	2111	2812	3430	3500	3288	369	3488	3612
Coal	453	203	204	188	188	200	211	224

Table.8: Egypt’s Transport Consumption of Different Energy Sources during the 2000s

	2000	2005	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Oil	9060	9371	15547	12362	16416	16892	17098	17312
Electricity	-	-	44	44	45	46	46	47

Fig.6: A Pie-Chart of the Egyptian Primary Energy Consumption in the Year 2016 (EIA, 2018)

Import and Export

Egypt is a net exporter of crude oil and natural gas, however, the combination of increasing consumption and declining production has led to a decline in natural gas exports since 2009, as the government started to divert natural gas supplies from exports, in order to satisfy domestic demand, eventually turning the country into a natural gas importer since 2015. 

In terms of coal and peat, Egypt is a net importer, and coal imports are even expected to increase in the short-medium term, since the Egyptian government has approved the industrial use of coal in April 2014, and in the same year signed a construction deal for the first coal-fired power in the country.

Subsidies

In 2013, the Egyptian government spent 120 billion Egyptian pounds (about 13.8 billion EUR) on fuel subsidies, which equals 7% of the GDP. These costs in combination with economic stagnation have contributed to the increasing deficit, which reached about 12% of GDP in 2013. In order to alleviate this burden, the Egyptian government announced spending cuts on energy subsidies in June 2014. The Financial Times reported that these subsidies are going to be cut by almost a third.