The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated USD 500 million to support Egypt’s solar energy program in 2016, the bank announced in a statement on its website on Monday. According to the statement, the EBRD is prepared to finance “several plants up to USD 500 million and to mobilize up to USD 1.5 billion in debt and equity from other financiers.” Many of the projects, which will be constructed entirely by private firms, will be located in Upper Egypt and stand as the world’s largest solar park upon completion. “Egypt currently relies to a large extent on traditional power generation fuelled by costly hydrocarbon imports,” the statement says, adding that Egypt has “world-class solar resources” and can therefore rely on solar energy to cover more of its energy needs. The announcement comes as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is in France to attend the Paris Climate Summit, where 140 world leaders are discussing measures to mitigate the effects of global warming. Egypt has been diversifying its energy sources after suffering from severe shortages resulting in years of rolling blackouts during peak times. Solar energy has been hailed as…
