Page 13 - AfrElec Week 32 2021

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
SOLAR
Egypt to construct solar
stations & chargers with
solar-powered display
screens at Cairo Airport
The government of Egypt is set to construct solar stations & chargers with solar-powered display screens at Cairo Airport following the signing of a cooperation protocol that will see the provision of technical and financial support for the supply, installation, and operation of the said facilities.
The protocol was signed by Abu Sunna, the CEO of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA); Mohamed Abdel Karim,
the Executive Director of the Industrial Modernisation Centre (IMC); Magdy Ishaq, the Chairperson of Cairo AirPort Company; and Ayman Mohamed, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The solar-powered display screens at Cairo Airport project will be implemented with financial and technical support from
the EEAA, and the national project for small grid-connected solar cell systems that is spearheaded by the IMC in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility.
According to Yasmine Fouad, the Minister of Environment, Trade & Industry, the project entails the construction of small solar cells stations connected to the network and chargers equipped with solar-powered display screens in certain places at the airport.
It also includes the installation of a measurement system to keep track of the performance indicators of the solar systems and the rates of electricity exchange from the solar cell system to the electrical network.
Ms. Fouad stressed that integrating the environmental dimension into the civil aviation sector is among the priorities of the state to work on more sustainable airports, as the integration of the environmental dimension into the policies and various sectors of the state has become tangible and cannot be dispensed with or ignored.
Upon completion, the project is expected to have an environmental return in the
form of reduction of emissions, a social and educational return through the generation of electric power using solar/renewable energy, and an economic return as a result of the expected savings from electricity bills. EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT
GENERATION
Egyptian-Chinese alliance
to complete Zagazig power
station
The technical and construction works of the Zagazig Power Station with a capacity of 11/66/500/220/kV, which is being carried out by an Egyptian-Chinese alliance under the supervision of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, will be completed by the end of August, at a total cost of more than EGP 150m.
Rabab Fayed, Chairperson of Giza Misr, the Egyptian representative in the Egyptian- Chinese alliance, said that this station will make a qualitative shift in Sharqeya.
It will also provide all electricity needs of companies and individuals and will allow electricity into all homes in the villages surrounding the city of Zagazig.
This is part of “Decent Life” initiative for the people of the Egyptian countryside, which was recommended by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
She added: “The Chinese Ministry of Electricity, for its part, praised the Egyptian companies, especially since we in Giza Misr have the modern technological means to implement all technical, construction and electromechanical works, due to the strong push provided by the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces to the Egyptian private sector companies. They contribute to the implementation of development projects in all areas across the republic”.
She added that Egypt has now contracting companies, including Giza Misr which can compete with international companies in the implementation of projects, whether inside or outside Egypt. She noted that Power China, for its part, praised the cooperation with
Giza Misr in the implementation of many electrical projects with great efficiency and professionalism.
TRADING
Sudan plans to buy electricity from Ethiopia
Sudan, which has a large electricity deficit, wants to obtain supplies from Ethiopia, which is completing the construction of the GERD, the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Despite the conflict between Egypt and Sudan on the one hand, and Ethiopia on the
other, over the distribution of the waters of the Nile, it seems that Addis Ababa is playing the energy diplomacy card.
Sudan would like to buy 1,000 MW of electricity from Ethiopia. Officials from both countries have confirmed the information.
If the agreement is reached, it would be a diplomatic victory for Ethiopia, which
is struggling to get its large northern neighbours, Egypt and Sudan, to accept the imperative need for the dam.
Talks on the distribution of the Nile’s waters, which have been going on for years, are at a standstill.
Egypt and Sudan fear that their share of the water will be reduced because of the huge reservoir. Addis Ababa argues that the 6,000 MW of power that the project will produce will benefit the entire region and even the whole of Africa.
An argument that is beginning to bear fruit as the impoundment of water is almost complete.
Sudanese experts are expected in Ethiopia this month. They will discuss the construction of a 550mn dollar high-voltage line to connect Ethiopia to Sudan.
This country is not the only one targeted by the energy diplomacy inaugurated by Addis Ababa. Kenya, but also Djibouti have begun discussions on the supply of electricity. South Sudan is interested, as is Somaliland.
In this connection, Ethiopia is building lines to Tanzania with a capacity of 2,000 MW, with the lucrative South African market on the horizon.
HYDRO
Zambezi River Authority
maintains water quotas for
Zimbabwe and Zambia
The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) will maintain its allocation of 42bcm of water to Zimbabwe and Zambia for their power utilities’ generation of electricity at Kariba.
ZRA acting chief executive officer Edward Kabwe said in a statement dated August 9 that following the conclusion of the 2020/2021 rainy season, the water level at Lake Kariba had continued to recede steadily and was 482.05 metres on August 9, compared to 482.82 metres on June 7.
ZRA in June announced a 12 bcm water allocation increase to the Zimbabwe Power Company and Zambia’s ZESCO Limited for power generation, which it says it will maintain until the end of the year.
Week 31 05•August•2021
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