The Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) will launch a new solar power plant in Sharkya governorate  with investments around $5.49m in  October.

ASRT’s Chairperson, Mahmoud Sakr, stated that the power plant will produce electricity from the sun, and then the heat caused by the plant will be used in water cooling and desalination, reported Al Borsa News. Furthermore, the project’s Lead Researcher at ASRT, Amr Amin, added that the power plant is funded by the European Union (EU) and four Mediterranean countries are cooperating on the construction of the facility. Accordingly, the plant will be linked to three other facilities in Italy, Cyprus, and Jordan, and will be used in research and training purposes.

The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Ashraf El Sheihy, will attend the project’s launch, together with Sakr, as well as Ambassadors and solar energy experts from Egypt, Italy, Cyprus, and Jordan.

The project comes under ASRT’s efforts to apply economical technologies in the country’s agriculture and industrial sectors as a part of Egypt’s agricultural, industrial and urban development plans.