Taqa inaugurates solar power plant in Soma Bay, to build desalination in Egypt

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Taqa inaugurates solar power plant in Soma Bay, to build desalination in Egypt

The Egyptian company, Taqa Arabia has inaugurated a solar photovoltaic plant in Soma Bay and also inked a deal to build a solar-powered desalination plant.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by officials from Taqa Arabia, which owns the solar power plant, as well as Ibrahim El-Missiri, the chairman and CEO of Abu Soma Tourism Development Company (ASDC).

The solar power plant, which has a capacity of 5 MWp, was built by Taqa Power, the subsidiary of Taqa Arabia Group at a cost of US $4M. The clean electricity will be to ASDC under a 30-year power purchase agreement.

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Egypt’s vision

“Our main objective is to generate the required energy using solar to reduce electricity and seawater desalination costs. This project aligns with Egypt’s vision to explore and diversify the country’s energy resources,” says Ibrahim El-Missiri, Chairman and CEO of Abu Soma Tourism Development Company (ASDC).

ASDC has also agreed with Taqa to build a seawater desalination plant. The facility will provide drinking water to Soma Bay’s tourist facilities using renewable energy to reduce the carbon footprint associated with seawater desalination.

According to Pakinam Kafafi, Taqa Arabia’s managing director, the future desalination plant will be equipped with the latest energy saving technologies to rationalize the consumption of energy resources and thus achieve energy efficiency of the facility. The capacity of the future plant will be unveiled after the feasibility study phase.

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