A statement from the Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Mohamed Shaker, announced today, Saturday, that "the Egyptian government has begun receiving applications from the private sector for electricity generation projects from renewable energy sources." The statement added that "the Egyptian government has allowed companies that produce electricity from renewable sources to utilize the network of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to sell it to new consumers." In the first phase, the Egyptian government aims to establish five electricity generation projects using renewable energy sources with a total capacity of 500 megawatts.