- Last week Egypt announced that 19 of the 32 solar projects that make up the huge Benban Solar Park have been commissioned.
Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation confirmed last week that 16 solar parks totalling 780 MW of generation capacity has come online. A further three projects are totalling 150MW expected to be commissioned later this month.
The project is the largest solar pv project in Africa and all 1.65 GW is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Read more
It will produce 20 percent of Egypt’s power through renewable energy by 2020 and serve 350,000 Egyptians. The mega project aims to incorporate a total of 32 solar farms on 41 allocated land tracts in a 37.2 square kilometre area and will churn out a staggering 1.65 Gigawatts.
Egypt’s’ main source of energy comes gas at 66% of total production while the balance is made up of hydro at 18.2% and oil at 15.6%. With a growing population and a dire need for additional energy production, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company has revised its policies and opened up energy production to private sector investors.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
