Egypt Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The Egypt solar photovoltaic (PV) Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 20% by 2026. The outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly impacted the market with a decrease in the installation of solar PV projects. The lower deployment was due to primarily due to the negative impact on the economy. Factors such as the declining price of solar PV modules and installation are expected to drive the market. However, increasing adoption of alternate renewable technology such as wind and hydropower is expected to hinder the market growth during the study period.

Key Highlights

• The increasing deployment of on-grid solar PV projects is expected to make the sector significant growth during the study period.
• On account of growing carbon emissions, Egypt is likely to increase the share of renewable energy share to around 30% by 2050. The target is based upon Egypt’s vision 2030 plan. Further, the country has an untapped solar photovoltaic generation capacity of 74,000 TWh per year. Hence, such a scenario is expected to create an opportunity for the market to grow during the upcoming years.
• Egypt has several government initiatives or schemes which are expected to drive the market during the forecast period.

Key Market Trends

On-Grid is Expected to witness Significant Growth

- The Egypt solar photovoltaic has an installed capacity of around 1.6 GW in 2020. Out of the total, nearly 90% of the capacity is on-grid, while others were off-grid.

- Egypt has connected a large capacity of solar energy to the grid over the past few years. Most of this capacity is from large-scale ground-mounted projects such as around 1.4 GW Benban Solar Park. However, many grid-connected small-scale solar system projects have also been connected to the grid during the same time, increasing the on-grid solar capacity.

- In Egypt, the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) collaborates with the National Project Grid-Connected Small-Scale Photovoltaic Systems (Egypt-PV) to promote the design and implementation of small-scale solar systems with capacities less than 500 kilowatts.

- The Egypt PV project is implemented by the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

- Egypt PV has already provided technical and financial assistance for about 150 pilot PV projects in various sectors such as industrial, educational, commercial, public, tourism, and residential sectors. Of these, 123 solar PV projects with capacities between 5-500 kW were completed across Egypt, with many other projects currently under progress.

- Hence, considering the existing and the upcoming projects, the segment is likely to have a significance presence in the country during the study period.

Supportive Government Policies Expected to Drive the market

- Egypt has recognized a clear roadmap to boost its power capacity for the next decade, wherein renewable energy remains a major focus. During the last six years, renewable energy in the country took a leap of around 8.5%, with solar photovoltaic as the fastest-growing sector.

- In 2014, Egypt's adoption of the feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme for the promotion of solar PV has attracted international attention. The industry experts consider Egypt's FiT scheme as a significant boost to Egypt's ambitious 2800 MW solar PV capacity target by 2027.

- The country's commitment to promoting solar energy is emphasized by a recent protocol entered by the Government of Egypt, the Information and Decision Support Centre, and the New Urban Communities Authority.

- Besides the supportive government policies for utility-size solar power projects, the government has also initiated a number of initiatives for small-scale distributed solar PV. Some of which are the CoM Initiative, initiated in 2013, and the Egypt-sun Initiative, which Promotes the installation of combined efficient lighting and PV systems in government buildings and provides technical assistance to staff in different governorates.

- Hence, considering all the above, the government policies would help the market to drive during the study period.

Competitive Landscape

The Egypt Solar Photovoltaic (PV) market is moderately fragmented. The key owners in the market include Egyptian Electricity Holding Company, KarmSolar, Infinity Solar, Cairo Solar, Scatec ASA, and several others.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support