Renewable power for Marsa Alam
The Research Institute for a Sustainable Environment at The American University in Cairo have partnered with Schneider Electric to provide an automatic, solar-powered water pumping system and 50 solar-powered portable lamps for rural families in these areas.
Solar power is making a slow start in Egypt.
There remain substantial areas of Egypt with poor access to basic services.
The country is currently reliant on fossil fuel, pumping 38,000 tons of diesel daily, despite decreasing fuel availability and resulting in frequent electricity shortages. According to Ahram Online, the Egyptian government has been considering establishing a new 80 megawatt solar power plant at Marsa Alam since 2013, but little word has appeared of it since.
This leads RISE and Schneider to take things in their own hands. The academic and corporate partnership will not only fuel sustainability research, but also will help provide energy to people living in rural communities that would other wise be left with poor electricity service and wasteful water pumping systems.
Read the full article by Rana Kamaly via Because.bz.
[Phot title by dorothy | via Flickr]
