The Egyptian Cabinet approved the guidelines for the use of coal in industrial activities in Egypt, the minister of environmental affairs, Khaled Fahmy said.
Fahmy added that the Justice Ministry is revising the guidelines and preparing the legal forms.
The government approved the industrial use of coal in April to reduce the reliance on gas and is looking to diversify its sources of power generation.
Egypt has also limited gas supplies to energy-intensive heavy industries to preserve enough for power generation.
The cabinet said that 38 local and international companies in Egypt had recently applied to build power plants using coal or renewable energy.
