Mediterranean Action Plan

264
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
communities should be equipped with solar water heating systems and indicating that
licenses for such buildings as well as design and tender documents should include solar
water heaters systems relevant documents specifications where the cost of solar systems
will be part and parcel of buildings and apartments costs. The period from year 1988 to
1993 enjoyed flourishing of the solar water heaters systems utilization and active local
manufacturing of such systems where the production capacities of factories ranged
between 1000 – 2500 typical units per year. Due to poor quality, lack of maintenance and
after sales service, and non existence of enforced standards and codes, solar systems
installed suffered many problems that led to unsatisfactory performance lower than what
planned which brought bad reputation to solar water heating systems. The result was not
abiding by the ministerial decree enforcing use of solar water heaters in new building and
new communities where the decree has become practically abandoned.
Solar Photovoltaic Strategy
In the photovoltaic (PV) field, different PV applications have been addressed under
Ministry of Electricity and Energy activities since year 1979 and NREA continued that
interest later. Most of PV applications including water pumping, desalination, refrigeration,
village electrification, lighting, telecommunication, cathodic protection and other PV
applications were demonstrated and field tested. Some applications including
telecommunications and both remote desert roads lighting and billboards lighting on
those roads as well as applications for use in remote desert small loads, are all already
commercialized. It is estimated that the PV systems installed capacity is presently more
than 5.2 MW peak with around 32% of that capacity is in telecommunications sector due
to the rapid expansion of mobile telephones repeater stations where the desert
represents more than 90% of Egypt‟s area. Figure 5 represents PV applications share in
Egypt.
Figure 5 PV applications share
PV CAPACITY IN EGYPT (4000 - 4500 kWp)
Communication
Systems
32%
Cell Phone Netw orks
Systems
12%
Cathodic Protection
Systems
2% Desalination Systems
1%
Lighting Systems
20%
Water Pumping
Systems
9%
Advertising Lighting
Systems
24%
Lighting Systems Advertising Lighting Systems
Water Pumping Systems Desalination Systems
Cathodic Protection Systems Communication Systems
Cell Phone Networks Systems
Institutional Measures to Manage and Monitor Energy Issues including RE
In 1982 both a Supreme Council for Energy and an affiliated Supreme Council for
Renewable Energy were established to formulate general energy and renewable energy
policies and strategies, and follow up their implementation. These councils had in their
membership representatives of energy producing and consuming ministries and even
main sectors as well as main relevant research and development centers.
Further, the Organization for Energy Planning (OEP) was established in 1983, and
affiliated to Ministry of Petroleum to support energy policies and strategies formulation
and follow up. OEP was also supposed to support coordination between the two main
energy ministries, Ministry of Petroleum and Ministry of Electricity and Energy. However,
the overall trend of decrease in oil prices in the late 1980s and during early 1990s has a