Egypts announces its first and largest solar park in the world

 Egypt has long relied on taxing fossil fuels. Over 90% of electricity is generated from oil and natural gas. However, Egypt’s government plans to change course and entrench itself on the clean energy map with building the world’s largest solar park. The park will be called the Benban complex located in Egypt’s Western Desert and will open next year. The Benban complex is 400 miles south of Cairo, the $2.8-billion project will revolutionize energy supply for the nation. The World Health Organization recently says Cairo as the second most polluted large city in the world. The Egyptian government, in response, aims to nearly halve its natural gas consumption and provide at least 42% of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2025. Investment in Egypt’s clean energy market has increased by 500% since the announcement. The country’s prospects look good, says Benjamin Attia, solar analyst at Wood Mackenzie, an energy research and consultancy firm based in the United States. “I can’t think of another example where so many big players have come together to fill the gap,” he stated, referring to the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in supporting the Benban complex. It will have 30 solar plants will be operated by 4,000 workers and generate as much as 1.8 gigawatts of electricity. This gives energy to hundreds of thousands of people.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi supported the country’s environmental push that includes other large electricity projects. This includes the wind power farms in the Red Sea’s Gulf of Suez.  Other nations have aided with this initiative by helping to train hundreds of employees in wind and solar energy at local technical schools. 

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