Solar Energy Committee Appointment
Solar Energy Committee Appointment
The Prime Minister issued last week Decree No. 1788 for the year 2016[1] which mandated adding the Minister of State for Military Production to the membership of the committee which has been established in March of this year under the name “The Committee to Draft a National Plan for the Advancement of the Solar Energy Sector in Egypt”.
The Decision only adds the Minister of State for Military Production to the prevailing Committee. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity to shed light on this Committee and its mandate of setting the aforementioned national plan, particularly in light of the current controversy around the contention between the renewable energy companies and the Egyptian government regarding the choice of an arbitration centre to settle disputes arising between them.
The Decision issued in March 2016 had specified that the Committee specializes in commencing the drafting process for a national plan to promote the solar energy sector such that Egypt could become a main player by 2020 in producing and exporting solar energy in the Middle East and Africa, in a manner that satisfies Egypt’s environmental obligations. The Committee also has to consider means of linking production with the national electricity grid and determining the price index. Moreover, it is responsible for putting a strategy for increasing the state’s reliance on renewable energy in all economic sectors.
Finally, the Decision clarified that the Committee is responsible for setting strategies that would attract investment in the sector of solar energy-production technology as well as investment in establishing factories for producing the equipment needed for solar power plants and examining funding possibilities necessary for implementing these projects.
[1] Prime Minister’s Decree No. 1788/2016 on the conjointment of the Minister of State for Military Production to the Solar Energy Sector in Egypt committee, Official Gazette, Issue No. 27 bis, 10 July 2016.
The Prime Minister issued last week Decree No. 1788 for the year 2016[1] which mandated adding the Minister of State for Military Production to the membership of the committee which has been established in March of this year under the name “The Committee to Draft a National Plan for the Advancement of the Solar Energy Sector in Egypt”.
The Decision only adds the Minister of State for Military Production to the prevailing Committee. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity to shed light on this Committee and its mandate of setting the aforementioned national plan, particularly in light of the current controversy around the contention between the renewable energy companies and the Egyptian government regarding the choice of an arbitration centre to settle disputes arising between them.
The Decision issued in March 2016 had specified that the Committee specializes in commencing the drafting process for a national plan to promote the solar energy sector such that Egypt could become a main player by 2020 in producing and exporting solar energy in the Middle East and Africa, in a manner that satisfies Egypt’s environmental obligations. The Committee also has to consider means of linking production with the national electricity grid and determining the price index. Moreover, it is responsible for putting a strategy for increasing the state’s reliance on renewable energy in all economic sectors.
Finally, the Decision clarified that the Committee is responsible for setting strategies that would attract investment in the sector of solar energy-production technology as well as investment in establishing factories for producing the equipment needed for solar power plants and examining funding possibilities necessary for implementing these projects.
[1] Prime Minister’s Decree No. 1788/2016 on the conjointment of the Minister of State for Military Production to the Solar Energy Sector in Egypt committee, Official Gazette, Issue No. 27 bis, 10 July 2016.