German firm to conduct feasibility study on solar power projects

CAIRO – 17 May 2017: The Ministry of Military Production signed a contract on Wednesday with Germany's PSE company to carry out a technical and economic feasibility study on two solar power projects with a total capacity of 1 gigawatt per year.

The first project aims at the establishment of a solar power plant, while the other is concerned with constructing a factory to produce solar panels from Egyptian silica sands.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, Minister of Military Production Mohamed al-Assar in addition to Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker.

The feasibility study will be conducted via the KWD 200,000 ($658,000) grant provided by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development to Egypt's Ministry of Military Production, a Wednesday statement from the Investment Ministry quoted Nasr as saying.

The grant aims at implementing the national plan to upgrade Egypt's solar power sector, Nasr added, noting that this plan targets generating 20 percent of Egypt's electricity through renewable sources by 2022.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Military Production said the timeframe for implementing the project ranges from two-and-a-half to three years.

In the same regard, the Minister of Electricity indicated that the project constitutes a part of the state's sustainable development plan, noting that it will represent a leap in the field of generating electricity from natural resources.