In 2025, Egypt relied on fossil fuels for about 86% of its electricity consumption: gas supplied roughly 76%, and oil another 10%. Low-carbon sources provided the remaining 14%, led by hydropower at nearly 7%, wind at 4%, and solar at 3%. This leaves substantial scope to expand clean electricity and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, along with their climate and air-pollution impacts.

Is Electricity Growing in Egypt?

Electricity consumption per person is growing in Egypt, reaching a new record of about 2,077 kWh in 2025—41 kWh, or roughly 2%, above the previous record set in 2024. Low-carbon electricity generation per person grew much faster, reaching about 287 kWh, around 42 kWh above the previous record and an increase of roughly 17%, allowing for rounding in the supplied figures. This strong clean-electricity growth is encouraging, while continued expansion of overall electricity supply will help meet demand from electrification and AI.

Suggestions

Egypt can accelerate low-carbon electricity generation by expanding solar and wind while developing nuclear power as a major source of clean electricity. Relevant regional examples include Jordan, where solar supplies 15% of electricity, and sunny Cyprus, where it provides 23%; the US state of Nevada demonstrates an even larger solar contribution at 35%. Morocco offers a nearby wind example, generating 20% of its electricity from wind. For nuclear power, the United Arab Emirates provides a particularly relevant regional model, with nuclear supplying 20% of electricity, while France demonstrates its potential at a much larger scale, with 67%. Egypt can learn from these regions by supporting sustained project delivery, strengthening its electricity grid, and building the workforce needed to expand solar, wind, and nuclear generation.

History

Egypt’s low-carbon electricity history initially centred on fluctuations in hydropower. Generation fell by 1.9 TWh in 1985, then rose by 2 TWh in 1990 and 2.4 TWh in 1999. The 2000s brought further swings: gains of 1.4 TWh in 2001 and 2.6 TWh in 2007 were interspersed with declines, including 2.3 TWh in 2002 and a combined 2.6 TWh in 2008–2009. Growth became more diverse in 2019, when wind added 2.6 TWh, hydropower 1.2 TWh, and solar 0.9 TWh; solar then added another 3 TWh in 2020. Hydropower’s 1 TWh decline in 2021 was matched by a gain in 2022. More recently, wind and hydropower added 1.1 and 0.8 TWh respectively in 2024, followed by especially encouraging gains of 3.2 TWh from wind and 1.5 TWh from solar in 2025.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade