Fourteen Egyptian and international entities are participating in a project to build the capacity of geothermal energy in Egypt, which aims to implement projects in cooperation between the government and the private sector in the coming period.
The participating parties include the New and Renewable Energy Authority, Suez Canal University, Ain Shams University, Cairo University, Aswan University, Giorinco Company, South Valley Company, Egyptian-Japanese University, Bologna University, Bunyan Company, Ecoforest, and Taylor.
The project includes a full conceptualization of the exploitation of potentials in Egypt to implement projects, and the implementation of the first postgraduate diploma in geothermal energy engineering in Egypt on the basis of European standards.
Mohamed El-Khayyat, Chairperson of the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), said that the main objective of the diploma is to provide the local market with its demand of qualified graduates in the field of geothermal energy investigation, system design and project management with available technologies dedicated to the various applications of geothermal energy.
He explained that it is planned to establish the first pioneering educational station in the field of geothermal energy in Egypt, in addition to establishing integrated geothermal laboratories in the participating Egyptian higher education institutions.
The Egypt Geothermal Capacity Building Project seeks to develop stronger academic relations between higher education institutions in Egypt and higher education institutions in the European Union in the field of geothermal energy, as well as developing a stronger academic industry network between Egyptian higher education institutions and local geothermal companies.
Forty countries have recently turned to using geothermal energy in direct applications for agricultural production, and Iceland, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Kenya, New Zealand and the Philippines get more than 10% of their electricity needs thanks to natural heat.
Research indicates that the use of geothermal energy in greenhouses reduces fungal infestations and reduces fuel costs by up to 80%, realizing huge savings in operating budgets.
The production of renewable energy in Egypt during 2021 reached almost 24,000 GW/h, consisting of hydropower 14,000 GW, wind energy 5,400 GW, and solar energy 4,500 GW, in addition to 12 GW of biofuels.
