N African sun offers hope, but state role key

N African sun offers hope, but state role key

CAIRO: Blessed with year-round sunshine, North Africa has enormous potential for solar energy, but the huge investment and state subsidies required for large-scale projects are a challenge for cash-strapped regional governments. The region boasts a few marquee projects that are among the largest in the world but renewable energy entrepreneurs say the focus should be at community level, helping whole villages to operate off the national grid and without using diesel fuel.

Egypt, the most populous Arab country, with more than 100 million people, has made solar power a priority in its quest to source 42 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2035. In the western desert, about 40 km north of the southern city of  Aswan stands the Benban Solar Park. Visible from space, the $4 billion World Bank-funded project is the fourth largest solar park in the world, stretching over 37 sq km.

With six million solar panels, Benban was connected to Egypt’s national grid in 2019 and currently produces 930 gigawatt hours a year, which is enough to light up 420,000 households, according to the UN. Egypt’s 42 percent target is an ambitious one. In 2016, just nine percent of its power needs came from renewable sources, according