International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr and Trade and Industry Minister Tareq Qabil witnessed an inking ceremony of a grant worth 3.5 million dollars to be offered by the UN Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the aim to support a photovoltaic cells program in Egypt. 

The agreement reflects Cairo's growing interest in using its huge solar energy resources, Nasr said. Egypt has made it a top priority to increase its quota of renewable energy to reach 22 percent by 2020, the minister noted. 

The deal also comes as part of Egypt's commitment to voluntarily contribute to international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Nasr added. 

The project will be implemented by the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC), she made it clear. 

The grant will help provide technical support to the project, which should be completed in five years, Nasr said.

The industry minister, for his part, said that the project aims to manufacture high-quality power generation products through increasing the local components and providing technical support. 

Qabil said the government will support the establishment of small plants, which operate from rooftops and can produce up to four megawatts. This should help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Egypt by 66 kilo tons of carbon dioxide during the implementation period and, hopefully, a maximum of 0.7 million tons after wide-scale operation, Qabil added.

Source: MENA