Egypt is targeting investments of nearly 81.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.6 billion) during the current fiscal year and this will boost the sector’s share in the country’s energy mix to 11.8 percent at the end of the current fiscal year, the head of the Arab country’s renewable energy regulatory body was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

Mohammed Al-Khayyat, Chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Authority, said renewable energy projects have allowed Egypt to attract more foreign capital and to reduce reliance on gas to run its power facilities.

Khayyat told Egypt’s Arabic language daily Addustoor that Cairo is pursing plans to enforce legal frameworks for the renewable energy industry to lure in more investments.

“These projects have allowed Egypt to diversify its sources of energy and slash dependence on gas…this has helped save gas and boost its share in GDP,” he said.

The 2023-2024 target also includes $2.2 billion in public investment and will boost the sector’s contribution to GDP by 21 percent to EGP203 billion ($6.5 billion) this year from around EGP169 billion ($5.5 billion) during 2022-2023, Al-Khayyat added.

Khayyat projected total renewable energy production to rise to nearly 11.8 percent in the current fiscal year from 8.8 percent in 2018-2019.