Investment Minister Ashraf Salman said the government is finalizing a 10-year plan that will allow Egypt to generate an additional 70 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, including 8 GW from renewable sources and 8 GW from coal.
"The liberalization of the energy sector has enabled private companies to generate and distribute electricity,” Salman said on Monday during the 11th Annual EFG Hermes Conference in Dubai.
Last month, Egypt's Cabinet approved a new law privatizing electricity production, distribution and transmission.
Egypt has suffered from power crises for several years but last year the situation deteriorated significantly, with parts of the country facing approximately six power cuts a day for up to two hours at a time. There have also been countrywide power cuts, even in winter months, when the load on the network is smaller.
According to the Electricity Ministry, the power outages were mainly due to high consumption and shortages in gas supply.
In total, Egypt generated between 22,000 and 23,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity per day last summer, according to the data from the Electricity Ministry.
"Rising population, intense heat and terrorist attacks on the infrastructure lead to a demand exceeding the energy production capacity by 20%," an Electricity Ministry official told Anadolu Agency.
Egyptian power plants are expected to reach a daily production capacity of 30,000 MW next summer, the official noted, adding that fuel shortfalls last year prevented them from operating at full capacity.
The government cut its electricity subsidies in July 2014 in a move to reduce the country's budget deficit and ultimately eliminate energy subsidies.
