Egypt opens $500m solar power plant

CAIRO, Dec 15: Egypt inaugurated a $500 million solar plant in the southern city of Aswan on Saturday as part of its push to boost renewable energy production after last summer's severe power outages.

The Abydos Solar PV Plant, which was developed by Dubai-based energy company AMEA Power, has a capacity of 500 megawatts and was completed in just 18 months. The plant is expected to generate 1,500 gigawatt-hours of clean energy annually, enough to power about 300,000 households while offsetting 782,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions, according to AMEA Power.

The premier added that the project would also support the government's efforts to curb summer power cuts, which have become frequent during periods of high electricity demand.    —AFP