Mediterranean Action Plan

266
ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
burden on the electricity utility. Current discussions between concerned organizations are
under way to find a compromise that would be agreed upon by all stakeholders. This new
situation of the possibility of being unable to meat future demand is a new issue for electric
power planners and policy makers. The previous concerns were mainly financial and
economical and the solution was always (till now) possible through arrangements (involving
the government) with international funding agencies with feasibility studies showing a limited
deficit to repay the loans. It is obvious that the higher the demand on electric power, the
higher the difficulties to get required investments. One strategic option is to adopt a rigorous
policy on the level of pricing and also on the level of rational use of energy (RUE).
As previously mentioned from the point of view of supply side, the electricity sector has taken
the following measures for:
Switching all existing and new thermal power plants to be fueled by natural gas.
Improving the conversion efficiency through upgrading old power stations.
Using mainly combined cycle power stations and raising the standard size of its modules
in order to reach higher efficiencies.
Improving transmission and distribution losses.
Some other measures were taken by the electricity sector in the demand side level such as:
Penalty on consumers having their power factor less than 90% and incentives for
consumers having their power factor more than 92%.
Additional demand charges on customers demand exceeding their contractual demand
during the system evening peak load period, are applied.
Based on our bibliographic research and contacts, we did not find any documents reflecting
what is going on within the supply side of the oil and gas sector on the level of RUE
measures or tools.
Some measures under the legislation topic have to be mentioned:
New buildings' energy standards have been developed to be adopted within new
buildings specifications but no enforcement has taken place.
Energy labeling and standards have been developed and issued for four appliances:
washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and electric water heaters. It is
compulsory (with limited enforcement) to put the energy efficiency label (reflecting the
level of the appliance electricity consumption) on all locally manufactured and imported
appliances. Accredited performance test laboratories (Energy Efficiency Testing
Facilities) have been implemented within the Egyptian Renewable Energy Testing &
Certification Center – RETCC and hosted inside the premises of the New and Renewable
Energy Authority – NREA.
There were limited scattered efforts on:
Awareness campaigns
Research programs in universities and research centers.
Training programs for energy managers, in industrial and commercial sectors.
Involvement of NGOs under the concept of environment protection through RUE.
Involvement of some local governorates in pilot projects concerning public lighting.
In general concerning the supply side, Egypt currently does not apply any other incentive
methods, fiscal measures, quotas, or procedures to encourage local or foreign investment in
RUE projects.