CAIRO, Nov 10: India and Egypt have discussed ways to step up cooperation in the renewable energy sector with experts from both the countries sharing ideas to promote clean fuel in the light of its increasing demand worldwide.
The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture of the Embassy of India in Cairo yesterday organised a round table ‘Renewable Energy: Lightening the path to future’ where experts from India and Egypt discussed, analysed and shared the Indian and Egyptian experiences in the sector.
India’s Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya said that the subject of renewable energy is particularly important in the light of increasing demand of clean energy worldwide especially when the traditional sources of energy affects the environment negatively.
Solar energy is becoming popular in several places in India including Rajasthan’s desert where the government gives six-month trainings to rural women to generate solar energy in far rural areas, he said.
India is stepping up its cooperation and exchange of experience with Egypt by offering training courses and workshops to Egyptian experts, Bhattacharyya said.
“Egypt started to cooperate with the leading countries in the field of renewable energy by the early 1990s. Recently, a special programme of nutrition tariff for solar energy based projects was designed to fit the Egyptian market needs,” said Mohamed Khayat, Executive Chairman of New and Renewable Energy Authority in the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
“The renewable energy projects need flexible dynamic policies in order to succeed,” he said.
Renewable energy projects attract foreign investments and Egypt is also investing to save electricity consumption from the traditional sources, Khayat said, adding that the use of biomass energy is spreading in Egypt and there are chances in its expansion.
Former speaker of Ministry of Electricity Mohamed El Yamany said the Egyptian government succeeded in eliminating the power cuts though people are not saving electricity.
The Ministry of Electricity is working in two directions which are raising the efficiency of power plants and enhancing the efficiency of power consumption, he said.
Ashish Khanna, Program Leader for Sustainable Development (Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti), praised the Egyptian government’s efforts in expanding the renewable energy projects and urged Egyptians to install solar cells in their houses.
Khanna said that renewable energy is the future of labour market for the Egyptian youth. (PTI)
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