Egypt saw the launch of a 10-MW solar plant in the desert oasis of Siwa in the western region of the country. The plant will complement the city’s diesel units, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker was cited by state-run media agency MENA as saying.
The plant was the recipient of a $25-million investment funded by an Emirati grant, Shaker added.
The country has been busy on the renewable front as it struggles to meet its power demands. The government revived plans to produce at least 20% of its total power from renewables by 2020. In September 2014 an attractive feed-in tariff (FiT) for renewable energy projects was launched, followed by the issuing of tenders to add 2.3 GW of solar and 2 GW of wind capacity.
All of its recent moves led to it making an appearance on Ernst & Young’s recently released ‘Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index’ report. It came in 39thin the latest edition of the 40-strong ranking, released on Monday.