The Tourism Ministry has begun implementing a project to operate hotels using solar energy.
The project will be implemented by the Tourism Ministry, the New and Renewable Energy Authority and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
The initiative aims to save energy through the use of energy-saving light bulbs (LEDs), solar water heaters and the generation of electricity from solar panels.
Tourism Minister Adviser Emad Hassan said LE20 million has been allocated to the first phase of the project, which will be implemented in ten hotels.
During a Tuesday workshop on the funding of hotels' renewable energy projects organized by the Egyptian Engineers' Association in coordination with SIDA, Hassan said the ministry is currently choosing the ten hotels where the first phase of the project will be implemented.
The project will be gradually implemented in all hotels through a fund that will initially contain LE500 million, according to Hassan.
Head of the Consumer Protection Agency Atef Yacoub stressed in a statement to Al-Masry Al-Youm Tuesday the need to implement the project in houses as well, adding that he has been negotiating with the Social Fund for Development to provide a loan to create solar panels on the rooftops of houses.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
