Energy   Brief of meetings Objectives Related articles from Business Monthly Committee work plan AmCham related member companies Contacts Related Tenders List of Committees | Previous Years

Energy Committee

• The potential of solar energy highlighted
• Generating Electric Energy through Concentrated Solar Power
• Gas expert highlights global challenges

The potential of solar energy highlighted View Presentation

AmCham’s Energy and Environment committees co-organized a meeting on April 22 with guest speakers Darrell Blakeway, executive director of Perennial Energy Consulting, and Saif Islam, vice president of business development at Perennial Energy Consulting. The two speakers gave a brief overview of their company’s experience in renewable energy resources followed by a presentation entitled “The potential for accelerating the development of solar energy facilities in Egypt.”

Blakeway explained how fossil fuel prices have responded to worldwide pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions over concern of global warming. He said that as gas, coal and other conventional fuels become increasingly expensive, there will be a gradual shift to renewable resources such as nuclear and solar energy.

Islam explained the process of harnessing concentrated solar energy. A parabolic mirror captures and focuses sunlight to produce heat, which can then be converted to other forms of energy. The operating cost of a concentrated solar energy plant is low, he said, estimating that initial costs range between 9 and 12 cents per kilowatt hour, eventually dropping to 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

He highlighted the ongoing project to develop a concentrated solar energy plant at Kureimat, south of Cairo. The plant is a gas-fired combined cycle generator with a solar array. Islam explained how the plant’s parabolic mirrors function to concentrate the sun’s energy, noting that smaller units exist that can be fixed to the top of roofs.

Blakeway concluded the discussion by pointing out that countries with dwindling fossil fuel reserves will have to rely on renewable energy sources to meet their electrical power demand. The private sector and government will need to work together to make renewable energy work, he stressed.

Top

Generating Electric Energy through Concentrated Solar Power View Presentation

The Energy and Environment Committees held a meeting on April 22 with guest speakers Darrell Blakeway, Executive Director, Perennial Energy Consulting and Saif Islam, Vice President, Business Development, Perennial Energy Consulting who gave a presentation entitled, “The Potential for Accelerating the Development of Solar Energy Facilities in Egypt.”

They began with an overview of Perennial Energy Consulting, explaining that it is specialized in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Blakeway started the presentation by highlighting how the rising price of oil drives up energy, coil, natural gas, steal, uranium and gold. He added that Oil has been an inexpensive powerful source of energy and so was of great interest in the early 1980’s. The interest in renewable energy died when the price of Oil went down to 10$ a barrel in the 1996. Mr. Blakeway believes that it will reach a peak and then go down in the next four years, thus renewable energy will be a huge competitive. He emphasized that Global warming issue is pressuring to reduce CO2 emissions which means that all natural gas, coil and fossil fuels will go up and become very expensive. It is a gradual transition away from using fossil fuels to be replaced by nuclear fuel and renewable energy. Use of renewable or solar energy reflects low operating costs, no fuel costs, and allows use of new technologies.

Mr. Islam then explained that the next wave is concentrated solar power. Solar mirror capture sun heat to produce power which is known as concentrated solar power by using parabolic shaped CSP. He added that the operating cost of CSP plant is low. It is between 9 and 12 cents/Kwh which will go down to 8cents/Kwh. Islam then referred to a project currently going on in Karamt, Cairo as the fastest high grid CSP plant operating in Egypt. It is a gas fired combined cycle generator which has a solar array meaning producing the same power with less natural gas. He then showed how the parabolic CSP works and how it can be extended to long distances anything higher than 500 kW. However, there is also smaller scale CSP to be stored on top on roofs.

Raping up Islam emphasized the investment potential in renewable energy by giving the example of having ‘Eco Buildings’ with green roof and PV cell around buildings which follows sun, giving the efficiency of sun energy. PV has a good value chain for investors too. Finally, Blakeway added that Siwa has its own local electricity distribution so Egypt can afford subsidizing commercial and industrial electricity to extending its base on fossil fuel, but not for long. Countries will have to relay on renewable energy sources to extend its electrical power. The private sector, business community and government will need to work together to make renewable energy work.

Top

Gas expert highlights global challenges View Presentation

The Energy Committee held a meeting on March 18 with guest speaker Torstein Indrebo, secretary-general of the International Gas Union (IGU), who gave a presentation entitled “Global challenges facing the gas industry.”

He began with an overview of the IGU, explaining that it represents 95 percent of all gas sales worldwide. The Oslo-based organization’s main purpose is to promote discussion of technical and economic issues in the gas industry, and to ensure the provision of energy to consumers in a secure, reliable way with minimal environmental impact.

The main challenge is to bring natural gas from areas with large reserves, such as Russia and the Middle East, to consumers worldwide, he said. Import dependency for natural gas is increasing, particularly in the Atlantic basin and North America. Egypt is part of the new export community serving these markets.

Indrebo discussed climate change, explaining how carbon dioxide emissions and air pollutants are affecting the environment. He highlighted the fact that industries using natural gas have low carbon dioxide emissions and efficient production. Natural gas is a clean fuel that “should continue to be the fuel of choice,” he said.

Resource nationalism is a major issue in the gas industry, he noted. Gas resources are concentrated in the Middle East and in the hands of national oil companies that often restrict access. Further, the increase in domestic demand in Egypt, Qatar and traditional exporting companies is taking away gas from export. Overheated economies and limitations posed by national policies restrict access to resources and limit long-term supplies for importers.

Indrebo highlighted that investment in energy infrastructure requires long-term projects (20-40 years), project management and cost control, long-term contracts vs. spot sales, regulation of business, gas price indexation, return on investments and environmental policies. He said gas inevitably flows to highest-priced markets.

Top