Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mahmoud Essmat, met with Dimitris Copelouzos, Chairperson of the Copelouzos Group, a Greek company operating in the fields of renewable energy and power interconnections, to discuss ways to bolster cooperation in renewable energy and review the progress of the electricity interconnection project between Egypt and Greece.
The meeting, which included the CEO of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company Sabah Mashaly, focused on the developments of the Egyptian-European electricity interconnection project through a direct link with Greece, the future of renewable energies, and maximizing returns and leveraging Egypt’s natural resources.
Essmat emphasized the importance of the Greece-Egypt electrical interconnection (GREGY) project for achieving sustainable development. He highlighted the project’s aim to connect with the European electricity grid, positioning Egypt as a regional energy hub.
“This will make Egypt a regional energy hub,” Essmat said, pointing to the significance of interconnection projects in general and the interconnection project with Greece in particular. This comes in line with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’svision and the government’s policy to establish Egypt as a regional energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean, leveraging its potential in this field and strengthening ties between Egypt and Greece.
The meeting also explored the outcomes of discussions between Egypt and Greece’s electricity grid operators and project developers, including the procedures for tendering the project’s studies and establishing new clean energy projects in Egypt, as well as European proposals for acquiring these projects. It also addressed the volume of generated power and the readiness of the unified grids in both countries to achieve the project’s intended benefits.
Essmat emphasized the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy’s focus on interconnection projects. He clarified that the ministry continues its efforts to finalize the necessary procedures for the interconnection project, which serves as a crucial gateway to connect Egypt with Europe.
Essmat also affirmed the importance of the interconnection and exchange of electricity in supporting the energy mix, particularly renewable energies, and ensuring economic benefits for the involved countries and parties.
He also highlighted the political leadership’s keen interest in electricity interconnection projects, noting Egypt’s active participation in all regional electricity interconnection projects.
Essmat emphasized the country’s strategy to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the electricity mix and the Ministry’s commitment to diversifying electricity production sources and maximizing the use of Egypt’s natural resources, particularly new and renewable energy sources.
