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The photo is sourced from thenationalnews.com
Meleiha deposit is located in the Western Desert on the west bank of the Nile. According to reports for the year 2021, the share of Egyptian assets in Eni’s structure of hydrocarbon production is 21%, and 15% in the structure of reserves. Last year, the company increased its production of oil and liquid hydrocarbons in Egypt by 25% (up to 30 million barrels of oil equivalent), and of natural gas, by 22% (up to 538 billion cubic feet). The project implementation will reduce the carbon footprint of the Egyptian oil and gas industry, which is a major emitter of CO2 due to associated petroleum gas (APG) flaring. As follows from BP’s World Energy Review, in 2020 emissions from this source reached 5.1 million tons, while all other sectors of the Egyptian economy account for 199.2 million tons.
Apart from the Meleiha project, Minister Tarek El-Molla has announced several other commercial initiatives totaling $1.25 billion that will indirectly lead to emission reductions. Construction of a plant for the production of biofuel from algae with an annual capacity of 350 thousand tons will reduce CO2 emissions by 1.2 million tons per year; another 103 thousand tons of CO2 per year will be saved by the plant for processing plastic waste into oil that is going to be commissioned soon. Its capacity can reach 30 thousand tons per year. Another plant intended for the production of biodegradable plastic with a capacity of 75 thousand tons per year will add up to carbon footprint reduction as well.
Egypt is Africa’s leader in CO2 emissions, accounting for 16% of the continent’s emissions in 2020. The high dependence of the local power industry on fossil fuels remains a barrier to reducing the carbon footprint; the share of gas and oil products in the generation mix is 88%, while renewable sources account for only 12%. However, in the recent years, Egypt has been actively developing wind and solar energy. The capacity of the country’s wind turbines has increased from 555 megawatts (MW) in 2012 to 1,640 MW in 2021, and that of photovoltaic panels, from 35 MW to 1,675 MW over the same period, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).