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Another step toward electricity market liberalization: The newly independent Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) has approved five private renewables players for electricity sale licenses, a government source told EnterpriseAM.
The selected five: The companies approved to obtain the licenses operate five solar and wind plants, each with a 100 MW capacity.
The details: The Electricity Ministry will establish fair pricing mechanisms to be regularly reviewed; electricity producers will pay the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) licensing and transmission service fees; and the Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency will oversee agreements.
ICYMI- The EETC separated from the EEHC last month as part of a broader plan to liberalize the electricity market by turning the state’s electricity companies into market regulators and opening the door for the private sector to both produce and buy electricity from each other.
Mark your calendars for 2026: Government sources previously told us that the state is working to liberalize the country’s electricity market by 2026.
A long time coming: Liberalizing the country’s electricity market has been on the government’s agenda since at least the 2015 Electricity Act, which gave the state’s electricity companies eight years to complete the transition to market regulators by 2023 and proposed separating power generation from transmission and distribution to boost private sector participation. This was extended another two years to 2025 back in 2020 — and now appears to be working toward a 2026 deadline instead.
More to private sector involvement in electricity distribution? The Madbouly government plans on partnering with a number of private players, the source tells us, adding that some 105 private companies are already producing electricity to supply to remote areas, but this latest move will allow them to produce, distribute, and transmit power directly to clients nationwide.
Private players have been waiting for this move: Some 20 private sector energy players — including Infinity, KarmSolar, and Norway’s Scatec — voiced their interest last year in supplying electricity to other private sector companies through renewable energy projects under the peer-to-peer (P2P) system. The system enables private sector companies to produce and sell renewable energy via the national grid to companies in the private sector.
