India will implement a pilot project on renewable energy in Egypt to enhance bilateral cooperation and encourage the Indian private sector to participate in developing wind and solar energy sectors in the country.
The two sides also signed a MoU during the ongoing visit by the Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah. He said partnership with Egypt in renewable energy is win-win situation.
Abdullah, who is on a visit to the country from January 19 to 23 at the invitation of Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younes, is accompanied by a 14-member strong business delegation consisting of top companies engaged in wind and solar energy fields.
"We feel we should help each other, this is an energy that is good for all and it is free from good and it does not have the damaging effect to the environment as the fossil fuel has. And the price of fossil fuels is going up and the demand for energy is increasing," Abdullah said.
"So how do you meet this demand? How long are you going to subsidise to the level you are subsidising here? These are the questions people have to realise and the only energy that can really be the future of not only Egypt but the nations is renewable energy," he added.
Indian Ambassador to Egypt R Swaminathan said that the MoU includes training programmes, local manufacturing of equipment as well as exchanging information, policy formulation and joint research and development.
"The further aim is to encourage the Indian private sector to participate in Egypt's program of achieving 20 per cent of its energy from renewable energy sources by the year 2020," Swaminathan said.
The pilot project in renewable energy will be implemented in an Egyptian village. The project is to be equally funded by both sides.
Abdullah said Egypt has the unique distinction of being the centre of Africa, Europe and the Arab countries.
Thus it can easily export excess energy to other countries, he said.
Ten per cent of Indian energy is generated from renewable sources, mostly from wind. Projects involving solar energy have just started. The Indian plan is to produce 20 Megawatts from solar energy by the year 2020.
