The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has partnered with the Japanese government to launch a new project to promote small-scale innovative photovoltaic (PV) systems in Egypt. The initiative is part of a broader strategy to support the country’s energy transition and help meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on tackling climate change.

The initiative will accelerate and scale up the implementation of pilot projects for innovative small-scale photovoltaic applications and technologies for electricity generation in support of the implementation of the National Climate Change Strategy and towards achieving the targets set in Egypt’s National Determined Contributions (NDCs) Report launched in July 2022. 

The work will build on efforts initiated by the ongoing and award-winning UNDP-GEF Egypt PV project, implemented by the Industrial Modernization Center of Egypt’s Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The project, funded by the Government of Japan, will introduce brand new PV applications, including Building Integrated PV (BIPV) systems piloted in the New Administrative Capital and PV systems for middle-income housing in Egypt. The applications will also include introducing PV systems to rural Egypt in pilot villages of the Presidential Initiative “Haya Karima” (Decent Life) coupled with modern electricity storage capacities.

Hence, this project will contribute to reducing Egypt's greenhouse gas emissions, improving access to clean energy, boosting local economic development and reducing consumption of fossil fuels as a strategic target announced last week by the Government of Egypt.

The project document was signed by Alessandro Fracassetti, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt, Ambassador Dr. Hazem Fahmy, Assistant Minister and Director of the Department of International Cooperation for Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt; Engineer Mohamed Abdelkarim, Executive Director at the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) in Egypt and witnessed by Ambassador Hiroshi Oka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Egypt and by the Ministry of International Cooperation.

Emphasizing the importance of this project's contribution to PV systems in Sharm El-Sheikh ahead of COP27, UNDP Resident Representative Alessandro Fracassetti said: "This project will help us advance Egypt's green energy market transformation ahead of COP27, help unlock the potential of solar photovoltaic innovation and accelerate the country's transition towards sustainable development."  The project supports PV installations in Sharm El Sheikh Airport and other locations in the city, aimed to be completed by the start of the Conference.

Japan is a valuable partner for the Government of Egypt and UNDP in the efforts for green energy transition.“This project is important in light of COP27.  It will support not only cities but also rural areas including villages to encourage Egypt's efforts towards carbon neutral,” said Japanese Ambassador Oka.

Ambassador Hazem Fahmy, Assistant Minister and Director of the Department of International Cooperation for Development, commended the initiative saying: "the Government of Egypt appreciate Japan-targeted support especially as it makes use of Egyptians institution to pilot new technologies that will certainly be quickly adopted and replicated by the Egyptian market".

From his side, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Kareem, IMC Executive Director said: “IMC management approach has significantly contributed to the successfulness of “Egypt-PV” that was awarded to be the best project worldwide in the “Low Carbon” category by the British Energy Institute. This achievement paved the way to add another benchmark presented in the new project namely “Leveraging Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to be a new success model for “Egypt-PV”.

Dr. Hend Farouh, Egypt PV project manager commented from her said: “Egypt-PV project has supported the implementation of more than 132 small scale PV solar power stations with total capacities of 12 MWp in different sectors in 16 Governorates across Egypt that led to contributing in opening the PV markets in various sectors including industry, tourism, residential, commercial and public sector as well.”

At COP26 last year, UNDP launched the next phase of the Climate Promise - From Pledge to Impact - scaling up its support to turn NDC targets into concrete action in at least 100 countries. Japan became the largest supporter of this phase of the pioneering and groundbreaking initiative, joining the longstanding funding partners Germany, Sweden, EU, Spain, and Italy, as well as the new funding partners such as the UK, Belgium, Iceland, and Portugal.