Why Egypt’s plans for solar power are left in the shade

of the year the sun bakes down from a cloudless sky over Egypt, making it an ideal place to generate solar power. And because many Egyptians have their air conditioning blasting in the heat of day, it provides power just when it is needed. The International Energy Agency () reckons Egypt is one of the world’s best regions for solar. Some companies agree, having invested in projects such as the Benban solar park, one of the world’s largest, 650km (400 miles) south of Cairo. Egypt’s government has also tried to boost rooftop solar power by offering homeowners generous incentives. Yet even though Egypt will host this year’s international summit on climate change, its dirtier sources of energy continue to overshadow the solar sort. In 2016 Egypt set a target of producing 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, with most of the new capacity coming from sun and wind. But in the 12 months to March 2021 renewables including hydro accounted for just 12%, with solar power contributing under 3% of Egypt’s electricity. Renewable energy has struggled to keep pace with the massive increase in demand for electricity from a growing population (now around 105m). The reckons Egypt’s electricity consumption has risen almost threefold in the past two decades. Yet for most of that period until 2017 its solar-power capacity hardly went up, whereas there was a threefold jump in its use of natural gas, which it would far rather export now at high prices.