The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has successfully implemented a number of projects using solar energy instead of diesel in operating oil production wells at the sites of NORPETCO and PetroFarah companies in the Western Desert, as well as Offshore Shukheir Oil Company (OSOCO) in the Eastern Desert.
This comes within the framework of implementing the priorities of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources’ (MoPMR) work program, which was announced by Minister Karim Badawi before Parliament. The program ensures the reduction of emissions and energy transformation in petroleum sites.
The projects, supervised by a committee of specialists from EGPC under the direction of Chairman Alaa El Batal, included the implementation of solar energy solutions to operate artificial lift pumps in wells. This initiative aligns with the committee’s vision to expand the use of renewable energy in such projects.
This type of projects is characterized by high returns and economic indicators. It saves the cost of diesel consumption by about EGP 4.3 million annually in total savings from these projects.
In addition, these projects gave an environmental impact of reducing amounts of emissions as a result of replacing diesel with clean, renewable energy, the average emissions reduced in the three projects are estimated at over 420 tons annually of carbon dioxide.
Therefore, EGPC places the expansion of the implementation of solar energy projects in wells among its priorities, due to its positive effects on the economic and environmental aspects, as well as assessing the environmental impact and carbon emissions.