Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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World’s Biggest Solar Park to Be Fully Operational in Egypt by End of 2019

The facility comes as part of Egypt's aim to meet up to 40% of its energy needs from renewable resources by 2035.

Staff Writer

World’s Biggest Solar Park to Be Fully Operational in Egypt by End of 2019

Egypt's 1.6 gigawatt, $2 billion solar park in Benban, Aswan is set to be fully operational by the end of the year, according to Tribune Online. Some parts of the facility went online in July and were connected to the national grid, though others are still in a testing phase.

Partly funded by the World Bank, which invested $653 million in the project through the International Finance Corporation, the project is set to be the world’s largest solar installation to date.

While renewable energy currently covers about 3% of Egypt’s needs, according to government’s projection, the country aims to meet 20% of its energy needs from renewable resources by 2022, and up to 40% by 2035.

Most of the direct foreign investment the country attracts has fallen in the energy sector, with one of the latest example being the announcement of Egypt's first BOO (build, own, operate) wind farm estimated to begin full operations by 2022.

Main image courtesy of Climate State