Egypt has revised its renewable energy target for 2040, lowering it from 58% to 40%, explained Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi on Sunday, emphasizing the country's reliance on natural gas as a crucial component of its energy mix for the next few years.

Prior to hosting the COP27 climate summit in 2022, Egypt set an ambitious goal of achieving 42% renewable energy in its mix by 2035, later moving the target date up to 2030.

In June 2024, former Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker proposed an even more aggressive plan to raise this figure to 58% by 2040.

During the opening session of the Mediterranean Energy Conference 2024, Badawi stressed the importance of collaboration in the energy sector, calling for increased exploration and investment to tap into Egypt's vast natural gas reserves.

“This is a message to all of us to work together to increase discoveries and attract more investments through the bids being offered for exploration, aiming to achieve new discoveries in the region, which holds more wealth, particularly natural gas,” Badawi noted.

Since his appointment in July, Badawi has engaged with numerous international energy companies, including Italy’s Eni, which is set to commence drilling new wells in Egypt's largest gas field, Zohr, in early 2025.

This development aims to bolster production from a field that, at its peak in 2019, produced 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d). However, by early 2024, output had plummeted to 1.9 bcf/d, prompting Egypt to increase gas imports and liquefied natural gas shipments to stop power shortages.