605 private links
On the political arena, the Egyptian government has established a "National Council for Green Hydrogen and its Derivatives", chaired by the prime minister and counting among its members: the minister of electricity and renewable energy, the minister of petroleum and mineral resources, the minister of justice, the minister of planning and economic development, the minister of finance, the minister of environment, the minister of housing, the minister of utilities and urban communities, the minister of transportation, the minister of trade and industry, the minister of irrigation, the minister of state for military production, the chairman of the Suez canal authority, the chairman of the general authority for the Suez canal economic zone, the first assistant to the prime minister, the CEO of the general authority for investment and free zones, and the executive director of Egypt's Sovereign Fund.
I must admit I wonder what the point is forming a special council if it includes what appears to be most of the government. No word on permanent members from industry or academia.
On the council's first meeting an executive committee was formed (unclear who its members are) and tasked with speeding up the approval process for green hydrogen projects and to entice companies to invest in such projects, using investment incentives such as 33%–55% less tax, and exempting most equipment and supplies from VAT tax, an exemption from real estate tax on buildings, and waived fees for registering the companies in Egypt.
To date, the government has signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with among others ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia), Benchmark Alliance (?), China Energy company, the national holding company for chemical industries (the Egyptian one, I assume), DAI global company (Germany), OCIOR Energy company (India), Voltalia-TAQA alliance (sounds Italian?), and British Petroleum.
The stated ambition of the government is to produce green hydrogen at 1.7 USD/kg by 2050 and to capture 8% of the global market. The government expects that total foreign investment into green hydrogen projects to reach 81 billion USD by 2035.
The national strategy for green hydrogen is yet to be published, as far as I can tell.
A private collection of movie posters of Egyptian movies.
الحلوة دي performed by the Ayoub Sisters. 4 min video.
As always, you should watch youtube videos from a libre frontend.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqDf3lwZY-MJYKMAw2ySkPQ/
Very well-produced video series on the modern history of Cairo's districts. In Arabic, with English subtitles.
سيرة القاهرة هى مبادرة مجتمعية للحفاظ على تراث العاصمة والتوعية بهِ من خلال الوسائط المتعددة والعمل على إعادة إحياء الأثر وحمايته
Bibliotheca Alexandrina's collection on Egypt's modern history.
Egypt's largest private solar power plant.
The new Kom Ombo plant will be located less than 20 km from Africa’s biggest solar park, the 1.8 GW Benban complex.
- https://projectsportal.afdb.org/dataportal/VProject/show/P-EG-FF0-013
- https://www.ebrd.com/news/2021/egypts-largest-solar-plant-kom-ombo-receives-us-114-million-financing-package-.html
- https://egyptianstreets.com/2021/04/23/egypts-largest-solar-power-plant-receives-114-million-maximizing-clean-energy-potential/
- https://www.utilities-me.com/news/17081-construction-of-egypts-200mw-kom-ombo-pv-solar-project-to-commence-in-q3-2021
- https://energyindustryreview.com/renewables/acwa-power-to-develop-200mw-kom-ombo-pv-project-in-egypt/
Rowing is slowly becoming the new watersport of choice for Cairenes looking to escape the hustle and bustle of Egypt’s chaotic capital.
CairoScene.
The Google Arts & Culture organisation has teamed up to create the digital platform Preserving Egypt’s Layered History with archaeologists at the American Research Centre in Cairo.
[The] new online platform aims to turn traditionally scholarly subject into something "easily digestible and fun to explore".
If you're ready for some archaeological adventure but find yourself pandemic-trapped at home and unable to make it to Egypt's ancient Valley of the Kings right now, try the virtual tomb tour of Pharaoh Ramses VI who reigned in the 12th century BC.
The tomb of Ramses VI is located in the Valley of the Kings, in Luxor, Egypt.
Landsat images comparing greater Cairo (particularly the eastern half) from 1984 and 2019.
Lots of good references.
Ministries have signed MoU with Saudi energy company ACWA Power.
Currently there are 76 seawater desalination plants in Egypt, that supply 831,690 cubic metres per day. The plan is to build 67 more plants, in the governorates of Matrouh, Red Sea, North and South Sinai, Ismailiyah and Suez.
https://smartwatermagazine.com/news/smart-water-magazine/egypt-looking-25-bn-finance-17-desalination-plants
All those existing plants are probably not solar-powered, right?
Plans for new, solar-powered ones: https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/egypt-plans-desalination-plants-worth-2-5bn-over-next-five-years/
Kairo har närmare 20 miljoner invånare och bedömdes av Världshälsoorganisationen WHO år 2018 att ha de näst värsta luftföroreningarna i världen.
Enligt tidningen Egypt Independent fokuserade diskussionerna mellan Kamel al-Wazir och Volvo på ett projekt som innebär att etablera ett BRT-system på ringleden i Kairo i samband med att leden byggs ut med fler körfält.
Benban Solar park, at 1.65 GW capacity (approximately 3.8 TWh per year) is one of the world's largest PV parks.
Benban solar park covers an area of 37 km² to the west of the Nile river. My highlight shows the districts of Dakka and Koshtamna.
