Sen. Bernie Sanders praises Egypt’s Benban Solar Project

CAIRO - 2 August 2018: Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont praised Egypt’s commitment to the environment by building the largest solar farm in the world in its Western Desert, criticizing President’ Donald Trump’s ignorance to America's commitment to combating climate change.

“While Trump is ending America's commitment to combating climate change, Egypt is building the world's largest solar farm in the middle of the desert,” Sanders wrote on his official Facebook page, commenting on the Los Angeles Times article about the solar park.

“This is the kind of revolutionary technology we should be taking advantage of to grow our economy and sustain our planet for future generations,” Sanders added in his comment.

Sanders is the longest serving independent senator in U.S. congressional history, and was of the hopeful candidates in last U.S. presidential elections in 2016.



The LA Times article highlighted Egypt’s largest solar park in the world, the $3.5-billion Benban complex, 400 miles south of Cairo in Egypt’s Western Desert, which is scheduled to be opened next year.

“It will single-handedly put Egypt on the clean energy map,” the LA Times article published on July 30 described the project.

Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker has previously confirmed that the ongoing Benban Solar Project will be the biggest in the world, with a total production capacity reaches 2,000 megawatts.

The $3.5 billion project, located in Aswan’s village of Benban, has a total capacity of 1.8 gigawatts. Aswan was chosen to host the mega project due to its perfect solar location.

The project would create around 20,000 job opportunities over four years, with priority to city’s inhabitants.

A total of 39 local and international developers were chosen by the Egyptian government to start solar power plants in Benban after they had met the first round of the government’s requirements.

Egypt’s national strategy targets to bring the contribution of electricity from renewable energy to 20 percent by 2022.

Previously, Engineer Mohamed Amara, Project Manager of Infinity Station at Benban solar park, Aswan, told Egypt Today that there are currently some 650 workers at the station, which has started operating December 2017. Amara pointed out that the technological system used in the production of energy works to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide.

The Benban solar park is set to generate the equivalent of 90 percent of the energy produced by Aswan’s High Dam.

Benjamin Attia, a solar analyst with U.S.-based Wood Mackenzie, described the project to LA Times saying: “This is a big deal; I can’t think of another example where so many big players have come together to fill the gap.”

The LA Times also underlined that President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurated several big electricity projects last week, including the expansion of massive wind farms on the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea.

Benban Solar Project biggest in the world: Min.

CAIRO - 4 July 2018: Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker announced on Tuesday that the ongoing Benban Solar Project will be the biggest in the world. Shaker added during a meeting with the Parliament's Energy and Environment Committee's meeting that that total production capacity of the project might reach 2,000 megawatts.