Launch of Solar Cell System at Cairo Airport by the Government

A protocol was signed by Egypt’s Ministries of Environment, Trade, and Industry, and Civil Aviation to provide financial and technical support by the EEAA. This was for the supply, execution, and operation of small grid-connected solar chargers and cells equipped with solar-powered display screens. These will be built at Cairo Airport.

It was signed by Mohamed Abdel Karim, Executive Director of the Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC), Abu Sunna, CEO of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), Ayman Mohamed, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and Magdy Ishaq – Chairperson of Cairo AirPort Company.

The national project for small grid-connected solar cell systems will be implemented by the IMC in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility will provide the funding.

Yasmine Fouad, the Minister of Environment during the signing ceremony said that including environmental factors in the civil aviation industry is a step closer to sustainable airports as the environment cannot be ignored while making any policies.

Fouad explained that the project depends on the construction of stations in certain places to operate the chargers, as Cairo International Airport is the face of the state and the first impression in the minds of visitors to the country. 

She noted that the project consists of small solar cells connected to the network and chargers equipped with solar-powered display screens at the airport, and the installation of the measurement system necessary to measure the performance indicators of the solar system and the rates of electricity exchange from the solar cell system to the electrical network.

Some of the key benefits of this project are reduction in emission which is good for the health of our environment, electricity generation through solar energy, savings in power bills will provide economic return and etc. This will also help in the rational consumption of natural resources.

The protocol also assists in focusing on the local manufacturers’ for providing solar power plants in the view of diversifying energy sources and increasing reliance on new and renewable energy said the Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Jamei. The IMC is playing a pivotal role in implementing the Egypt-PV small solar cell systems project nationwide, she added.