Abstract Rather than being solely concerned with the technical and economic aspects, a wide scope should be considered in the planning of new power supply projects, including the social and environmental aspects. Thus we will be able to satisfy the needs of both current and future generations achieving a real sustainable development. Previous studies have nominated the used indicators in their sustainability assessment with a focus on renewable energy projects that are already installed in their case studies without clarifying the exact methodology used in their selection process. Additionally, Egypt as our case study has been previously investigated under the scope of technical and economic aspects only. In order to fill this gap, this paper aims to implement a systematic approach to identify and select major indicators for the sustainability assessment of different electricity supply technologies including conventional ones that suit our case study. Our conceptual approach analyzes the frequency of indicators in a sample of 30 studies and screens them against selection criteria and their applicability in Egypt. The results reveal that 13 indicators with strong relevance for the assessment of sustainable development can be used by decision makers for the investment in and installation of new power plants.